


I Like Me Better When I'm With You

by orangecaramel05



Series: Idiots Learning To Fall In Love. [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: A/B/O, ABO, Alpha Lee Jeno, Alpha Mark Lee (NCT), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Wolves, Awkward Mark, Beta Na Jaemin, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied Luwoo, M/M, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, No Smut, Omega Huang Renjun, Omega Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Playful Haechan, Two Shot, enjoy~
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 04:40:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 52,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15307671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orangecaramel05/pseuds/orangecaramel05
Summary: Haechan was unique. He was an omega, and by nature he should be submissive to alphas and betas, he should be soft, he should be kind, he should be altruist – but he was not. He was loud, he was obnoxious, he was playful, witty, short-tempered, and most important of all, he wasn’t naturally submissive.He liked himself that way and the alpha that would be his would have to deal with it. Hence why he thought he would find love at thirty.Comes Mark Lee.





	1. Of Love Themes and Cressent Birthmarks...

**Author's Note:**

> Hello~  
> So, I should be working on my main fic but this happened. I have no regrets though ahaha. Now, this is a mess but it's my take on the abo dynamic and I like it. So I hope you'll like it too and find it interesting. Also, there's a heat scene in this part, but there's no smut in it, so don't freak out when you see it mentionned ahah (I did portray them as your typical teenagers though, so expect dick jokes, swearings, embarrassing mmts, ect.~). Basically, this is two idots falling in love.
> 
> Part two is coming soon, and hopefully you'll like it! So, without further ado, enjoy~

‘They are driving me crazy man!’

Donghyuck hummed and raised a brow at his best friend’s whine, as he leaned against the railing of their school’s rooftop, the sun setting and casting pinkish and orange hues in the sky.

He was used to that, these rants about Noren driving Jaemin and his impossible crush on them crazy. Every time their mated friends would give Jaemin attention or show a form of care, his best friend would get mixed signals. And Donghyuck could see why, perfectly well. It was odd for him too, to see a mated pair act the way they act toward Jaemin – all flirty and caring, almost as if he was part of their mated bond – it was very unusual. And Donghyuck kind of pitied Jaemin for that, because if he was in his spot he would probably cry every nights out of frustration.

‘You need to let it go Jaem. It’s- this crush is not healthy for you.’ he sighed, worriedly eyeing his best friend’s slumped form. Seeing that, he wrapped an arm around his shoulder and brought him closer, Jaemin burying himself into his neck and breathing in his scent. His scent had always comforted him.

He kind of felt bad for saying that, but Jaemin really needed to move on. Having two mates wasn’t unheard of, it happened more often than one may think. But Haechan didn’t want to give false hopes to Jaemin or encourage his crush if all there was in the end was Noren flirting with Jaemin only because they found him cute. He sincerely hoped that they love Jaemin, and that they would confess soon. But for now, since nothing was sure, Jaemin needed to let it go a bit and see other things. He cared for Jaemin more than anything in this world, so while Noren decide what they’re gonna do with the matter at hand, Haechan would protect Jaemin and his feelings.

‘I know I have to… but it’s hard Hyuck. I’ve been hopelessly crushing on Jeno since I was 10 and on Renjun since I was… what? 14? It hurts so much man, today was the final straw.’ he groaned, sniffing angrily and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Donghyuck looked down at his caramel mop of hair and smiled bitterly, gently brushing his friend’s back.

Today had indeed been the final straw.

The three of them – Renjun, Jaemin and him – had been eating lunch at their usual table, chatting and bickering happily when Jeno had came up to see his mate. Now, that’s nothing unusual, and Jaemin had had plenty of time to get use to their lovely display of affection, so all was fine.

Well, all could have been if he wasn’t already bothered by Renjun’s strange display of affection since the morning.

Now, Renjun had always been affectionate with Jaemin, hugging and clinging to his arm on a daily basis, even kissing his cheeks sometimes – see the beginning of the mixed signals here? – but today? It was brought on a whole new level, that even Hyuck had felt uncomfortable for Jaemin. Renjun had been holding his hands, fingers’ intertwined and thumb rubbing included, and giving him love struck eyes all fucking morning long. Jaemin was good at pretending and keeping a pokerface and controlling his heartbeat rate, Donghyuck could grant him that, but he knew that deep down the beta was close to the mental breakdown.

So when Jeno had came up, naturally Jaemin had looked down at his pastas, the beginning of the day had already set too much ache in his heart for him to handle Noren’s daily display of love. And Donghyuck was ready to move and sit next to him so he could hold his best friend’s hand and help him though this.

But he wasn’t even off his seat when the ‘final straw’ took place – and frankly he was this close to dropping his jaw. Jaemin was happily eating his pastas in peace when a hand had ruffled his hair and the overwhelming scent of Alpha had invaded his space, and he had no time to panic because a pair of lips was already on his temple, kissing it softly as a soft ‘hello Nana’ could be heard. And when Jeno had leaned back, Hyuck had expected to see a blushing Jaemin and was already thinking of twenty excuses for his best friend’s behavior, but all he saw was a pale ass-looking one. And he knew, right at this moment, that Jaemin was finally freaking out.

So when his frightened best friend had looked up at Renjun – probably expecting to find an angry looking one, because ‘hello, your mate just did that!’ – and all he saw was a Chinese boy leaning on his elbows and smiling contently at him, Donghyuck was contemplating whether to label them as weirdos or assholes. But he had not time to voice his thoughts because in the next seconds the bell rang. And how grateful had they been for that.

So they had both wordlessly picked up their trays, Donghyuck wrapping a steady arm around Jaemin’s shaking form and hoping his omega scent would calm him down a bit and cover his panicked one. In the end, it didn’t help much and they decided to skip classes, running to the rooftop, where Jaemin had punched the railing and gone crazy for a good fifteen minutes, before breaking down.

‘Shh… it’s gonna be okay Nana, I’ll help you.’ he whispered as he side hugged his best friend very closely, feeling his own eyes prickle at each broken sobs emitted by Jaemin.

‘You- you’re really the only one who really understands me. Thank you bitch.’ Jaemin said, snuggling into his best friend, and the sun kissed boy snorted.

‘Of course I do. We are the most hopeless hoes of this school. I keep telling you every day that we should mate together.’ he joked, grinning when he heard Jaemin snorting and laughing again.

‘Oh god. Two of the baddest bitches of this school mating together? The school’s worst nightmare. We totally should.’

‘Well, no one wants me-’ he stopped as he saw Jaemin’s eyes squinting in warning and grinned sheepishly. ’What? I’m just too unique, not my fault they can’t handle me. I mean, I’m just way too good for anyone in this school anyways, so it’s their loss not mine.’

He shrugged and let go of Jaemin to lean back on the railing.

Haechan was an omega, and by nature he should be submissive to alphas and betas, he should be soft, he should be kind, he should be altruist – but he was not. He was loud, he was obnoxious, he was playful, witty, short-tempered, and most important of all, he wasn’t naturally submissive. Everytime an alpha would talk to him, be it to flirt or to ask for the time or even simply to ask if he had a tissue, his unique personality would trigger the anger out of these alphas, or at least frustrate them. So, those who dealt fine with his personality – like Jeno, the chillest man in the world, and probably the only alpha in this school who dealt with it – he decided he liked. But the rest? They snapped at him, avoided him like the plague, feared him in some way – which was unusual but happened twice – and, the worse, forced submission out of him. And Haechan hated them as much they hated him. But rather than to see himself as a misfit, he saw himself as too unique for these bastards.

So in the end, that explains why he was so close with Jaemin. When they first met back in middle school, Jaemin literally jumped on him and begged him to let him borrow that pink hoodie, and when Haechan had growled and told him to get his filthy hands away from him, Jaemin had only grinned and offered to trade the hoodie for his Huda Beauty eyeshadow palette. Haechan had showed up the next day at school with sparkly burgundy eyeshadow and Jaemin, clad in a pink hoodie, by his side.

Jaemin then introduce him to Jeno, and Haechan introduced him to Renjun, the only other somewhat feisty omega in the school, though still soft and kind. The four of them instantly clicked and, since that day, were inseparable. Jeno, though, hang out with his other friends half of the time – consisting of his pack – and had offered to introduce them but they had refused. Because of his hopeless crushes, Jaemin didn’t want to get more involved into Jeno’s world and Haechan, well, for obvious reasons, refused too. So the two of them had agreed on not entering a pack until they were ready and found the right one. Renjun on the other hand had said no because he felt like these three boys were enough for him. Of course, that all changed when Renjun and Jeno mated, and Renjun became an addition to Jeno’s pack – whose leader was also one of the main reason why Haechan refused to meet said pack.

He was brought back to reality by Jaemin’s sneeze, and offered him his black hoodie, which the boy gratefully accepted, relishing in his omega soft blueberries, lemon and warm sand scent. Haechan was never, well rarely, ever cold. He enjoyed the warmth of the early summer’s setting sun.

‘These two assholes-’ he resumed, grinning wolfishly at Jaemin’s stern look.

‘They are our friends Hyuck, c’mon.’

‘Assholes.’ he insisted, sticking his tongue out. ‘They don’t deserve you.’

He stretched his arms above his head and yawned, his wolfish fangs slightly showing.

‘I think we would definitely make a good match. Let’s get mated, Jaem.’ he grinned, winking and making kissy faces at the beta, who only laughed and shook his head, propping his elbows on the railing. Donghyuck laughed too, happy to see him in a better state now.

After a moment, Jaemin broke the silence and turned his head toward him.

‘You know, there might be an alpha who actually likes you.’ Jaemin suddenly said and Hyuck couldn’t help but laugh at that one. He turned to Jaemin and raised a brow, looking at him like he had gone mental.

‘Oh, well enlighten me please. Because the only one who could have must be Jeno but that’s a stern no.’ he grimaced, shuddering at the thought, but his eyes were sad. He was confident in himself, and he knew that an alpha or a beta, who would love him for who he was, was waiting for him out there. But sometimes, he just wished they were there right here, right now.

Unconsciously, his hand moved up to his left collarbone, where a crescent shaped birthmark was laying. Sometimes, when he looked at it, he couldn’t help but think it was funny because it looked like a bite. It was almost as if the nature was constantly laughing at him because it would take a lot for someone to actually handle him, let alone like him, so he would probably have to wait a long time before actually getting a mating bite. But he would keep on hoping. He would keep on hoping that the right one was out there, waiting for him. He knew they were.

‘No, I didn’t mean Jeno.’ Jaemin’s voice cut his thoughts. ‘I meant Mark Lee.’

Haechan burst out laughing.

‘Oh my god! Minhyungie?! You’re getting funnier with the time Jaem, do you know that?’ he managed to say, hiccuping and clutching his chest to calm himself.

‘Hae. I’m serious.’

Donghyuck calmed down, and when he turned to look at Jaemin, a soft yet bittersweet smile was on his lips.

‘Jaemin. He hates me.’ he stated, looking up at the sky.

‘C’mon, he doesn’t.’ Nana said, giving his best friend a stern look, and Donghyuck gave him an unimpressed one in return, crossing his arms, but a small smile was threatening to break past his lips.

‘Okay, you’re right. He doesn’t.’ he conceded, but mirth filled his eyes the second after. ‘He just… very kindly loath me with all his little alpha heart?’

Jaemin blinked and soon him and Donghyuck were laughing at that one. However, Jaemin was quick to retaliate.

‘Okay, then why would he put up with your bullshit?’ he smirked, feeling victorious.

‘Oh but he doesn’t- no, I’m serious here Nana, he really doesn’t.’

Haechan slumped against the railing and looked up at the sky, a veil of sadness invading his features.

‘He just has a lot of self control.’ he sighed and fiddled with his thumbs. ‘You know, I like him. I’ve always… admired and liked Mark. Growing a crush on him was to expect. But I never, even once, hoped for him to like me back, Nana.’

‘Oh, Hyuck…’ Jaemin sighed, reaching out to grab his best friend’s hand, and when he did, Haechan intertwined their fingers.

‘We used to get along when we were kids, you know? But then we naturally parted ways, I don’t even think there was a reason.’ he shrugged. ‘Sometimes, you just part with people. He began to show more alpha’s signs soon after anyways so we probably wouldn’t have clicked anymore, seeing my bitchy self.’ he chuckled amused, but Jaemin could hear the bitterness behind it.

‘When I saw him again in high school – I mean he is my neighbor, so yes I technically see him everyday, but I mean interacting with him again – the only shit I thought of at the time was to taunt him because I took the last chocolate filled dough? What a brat I was in first year.’ he laughed at that, not believing he did that and how childish it sounded to his own ears.

‘Oh shut up Hyuck, you still do it everytime there’s choco dough for lunch.’

‘True.’ he laughed softly, staring at a passing cloud. ‘But you know, that’s just me being me. And I honestly thought he would snap at me or wave me off, like every other alphas, you know, with one or two curses here and there… but no. He just clench his fists everytime and tells me ‘shut the fuck up fucktard, next time I’ll get it.’ ’ 

They both chuckle at his poor imitation of Mark.

‘But no punches, no threats, no forced submission. No nothing. And it’s like that everytime. I keep bickering with him on a daily basis for silly stuffs but he just insults me or tell me stop bugging him. Heck, he even lend me his pencil sharpener when I asked for it-’

‘Which, you never gave back by the way.’ Jaemin pointed out.

‘Which I never gave back.’ he agreed, with a smile. He turned around on the railing, now facing the horizon. ‘But, hey, he never asked it back in two years, so…’

His bones popped and hummed in satisfaction while Jaemin made a face at the sound.

‘And, you know, I asked myself why for a very long time. Why does he put up with my bullshit? Why does he never punch me or insult me? Why does he never force submission on me, even when I wound his pride? At first I thought that maybe he liked me? And that it was his way of showing it? But then I saw how he acted with the people he likes, Nana. And that’s not how he acts with me.’

Haechan bit his lips and his scent soured. Jaemin instinctively moved to wrap an arm around his friend.

‘I see how his fists and jaw kept clenching everytime, I bug him. I’m not obvious, you know? I noticed the anger in his eyes, the way his fangs threaten to show. It doesn’t take a fool to know it’s from hatred – or dislike if you prefer. The scent never lies. He smells sour everytime he is near me.’

‘I don’t understand.’ Jaemin cut in, frowning. ‘I mean, I see what you’re referring to with my own eyes, and I smell the anger too, so I won’t say you’re wrong. But why does he never snap then?’

‘Dunno. Maybe because he is afraid of our parents’ reactions?’

‘Oh right. They are childhood friends.’ Jaemin deadpanned.

‘Yup. So if we were to suddenly throw punches at each other, or if he was to force submission on me, that would break their hearts. I think that’s why he is so considerate.’ he muttered the last part, and willed away the bitterness in his throat. ‘Maybe I should be like that too and stop bugging him…’

‘Will you?’ Jaemin suddenly asked, looking up at his friend with something in his eyes that Haechan could only qualify as worry and hope, as wind swiped their hair up and down.

‘Nah.’ he grinned, chuckling and looking down at the students exiting the school. ‘This bastard would be too happy if I did. And we can’t have perfect little alpha Mark Lee happy, can we?’

He heard Jaemin snort and laugh, and next thing he knew, a can of Strike was shoved under his nose. He grabbed and opened it, turning his head to face his best friend.

‘To being unique and single?’ the beta said, raising his can.

Haechan smiled and clanged their cans together.

‘To being unique and single.’

 

– – – – – 

 

The next day, everything was the same as usual. Hyuck and Jaemin arrived at school, the former growling at every alphas throwing him a nasty or mean glare, and, of course, Haechan annoying the hell out of Mark Lee.

‘Would you kindly piss off, Lee Haechan?’ the alpha growled, tiredly rubbing a hand on his face, the series of bracelets around his wrist clinging melodiously against each other. Haechan loved this sound, because when you heard it, it would usually means that the omega was the cause of his suffering. Sometimes, he found himself wondering what Mark hid underneath it, a mole? A burn? A tattoo? He was genuinely curious, but like everyone else in this school he knew that Mark never takes off his bracelets.

Haechan only chuckled, leaning his head in his hand and looked at the alpha with mirth in his eyes.

‘Hummm, no. You would like it too much.’ he laughed, grinning wolfishly at the older.

‘Just…’ he inhaled for a good three seconds before he looked at Haechan, and the youngest noticed the strain of his jaw. And Haechan thought to himself, maybe today was gonna be the day where he finally snaps. But no, Mark simply exhaled and glared at the younger. ‘Just shut up and go bother Jaemin or Jeno.’

‘Awwww.’ he cooed, fake pouting and playing with the straps hanging from Mark’s sweater’s sleeves.

‘Shut the fuck up, fucktard.’ the alpha growled under his breath, and, call him masochistic or hopelessly attracted to the alpha, but he fully enjoyed the way Mark’s nostrils flared and the way his fists balled up. Why? Because he was the only one who could rill up Mark like that, and if he couldn’t have his love, at least he could be special in some ways.

‘But you would miss me if I stopped, asshole.’ he tsked, growling slightly when Mark finally pushed his hand away from the strap, the alpha growling back in warning, but Haechan knew he wouldn’t force him to submit – Mark was too kind for that. Yet, he wouldn’t push his luck, knowing fully well that the alpha was already frustrated enough by his behavior. So, he leaned back on his desk, noting that the alpha never deny his statement, and played with the pencil sharpener he ‘stole’ from the older, ignoring the snickers and snarls of some alphas in the room and the disapproving glares of some omegas. He was used to that and for him they were like passing flies; bugging but insignificant.

He felt Mark tense beside him. Haechan smirked, eyes still set on the green plastic nut shaped tool in his hands. Mark, always the good alpha, couldn’t stand people picking on the ‘weaker’. But he did nothing and read his philosophy book, as always, and Haechan knew that it was because Mark couldn’t care less about him, but he liked to think that, deep down, it was because the alpha saw him as someone strong enough to deal with that.

 

– – – – – 

 

‘I just hope for your sake and mine that they won’t show up by surprise.’ Hyuck declared as he shoved an egg roll in his mouth, eyeing Jaemin with judgmental eyes. Said boy just slumped in his seat and offered him the most horrible ‘love face’ while saying how much he loved him – he honestly looked like an Asian version of Gollum.

‘Yeah, yeah, stop it. I know I’m awesome.’ he sighed dramatically as he eyed the classroom full of students chatting and gossiping. ‘I can’t believe you made me lie, Na Jaemin.’

‘I know, I can’t believe it either.’ Jaemin shrugged and eat his bacon toasts. ‘But I owe you one. I seriously didn’t want to eat with them.’

Haechan’s face softened at that and he reached over to grab his friend’s hand over the table.

‘You don’t owe me anything Jaem. I don’t want you near Noren either, so it was the least I could do. And if they show up, we can always lie and whine like the bitches that we are, that we were too lazy to work on the ‘project’ in the end.’ he offered, rolling his eyes and fingers doing quotations marks at the mention of their so called project – an invention of Haechan to justify the fact that had to stay in their classroom for lunch.

‘- well she should stay in her lane!’ a voice suddenly cut in their conversation, loud and whiny, and the two boys decided to listen. After all, it was not everyday that a beta would get mad at something publicly.

‘Somin, calm down, she didn’t do anything wrong.’ the beta’s friend said.

‘Calm down?! But she’s basically all over him all day long! Always pestering him or taunting him for shitty stuffs! Can’t she see she’s annoying?’

Haechan tensed. By now the whole classroom was listening to her rants and her friend kept trying to calm her down, to no avail.

‘Heck, none of us can even have a peaceful conversation anymore without her randomly showing up and bugging him!’ Somin went on, fist hitting the table of pent up frustration.

Jaemin turned to Haechan with worry in his eyes the moment he felt the younger’s scent sour up. He wasn’t stupid, he could see the similarities of that girl’s behavior and Haechan’s. Couldn’t the bitch shut up already? Jaemin turned around, completely mad and ready to snap, but Hyuck squeezed his hand to stop him.

‘Why can’t she see that he doesn’t like her?’ she growled in frustration, and Jaemin squeezed his friend’s hand in the hope to bring him out of the conversation.

‘Hae-’ he began, but the younger was already listening to the rest of Somin’s rant.

‘Well, maybe he doesn’t hate her then? I mean, he would tell her to stop otherwise.’ her friend tried, hoping to stop the conversation here and there, clearly uncomfortable with the attention they were getting, but the Somin girl ignored it and scoffed.

‘Are you kidding right now? He is just way too considerate to tell her off. He is just… naturally good, hence why he would never snap at her. That’s all. It doesn’t take a fool to see how sour and angry his scent gets when she is there. Fuck kind boys.’ she finally said, slumping in her chair and sipping her juice grumpily. Her friend heaved a sigh of relief and sent apologetic smiles to everyone. But when her eyes fell on Haechan and Jaemin, it disappeared quickly, replaced by horror, and she ducked down, clearly embarrassed and panicked as she realized that Haechan heard that.

Jaemin quickly snapped his fingers in front of Haechan’s eyes and the boy blinked, refocusing on his best friend.

‘Hae. Whatever she says is bullshit. You-’ he began but Haechan cut him with a smirk and a snort.

‘I’m fine Jaem. It takes more than a bratty and jealous rant to make me feel like shit.’ he laughed and popped a strawberry in his mouth. ‘ Plus, it’s not the first time that people can’t stand feisty omegas, nor is it the last.’

Jaemin sighed, nodding but not convinced by his friend’s answer, because if he was good at pokerface, Haechan was a master at it.

 

– – – – – 

 

Later on that day, Haechan found himself next to Mark once again, this time in ‘wolf history’ class. He looked at Mark and a wolfish grin appeared on his face the moment he saw the older intently looking at his phone. Perfect time to-

 

‘Calm down?! But she’s basically all over him all day long! Always pestering him or taunting him for shitty stuffs! Can’t she see she’s annoying?’

 

Hyuck blinked and shook his head. Why was he letting Somin’s words get into his head?

Wolfish grin back in place, though more strained this time, he reached over and pinched Mark’s hoodie to get his attention.

‘Markie-’

 

The pen in Mark’s hand snapped.

 

The boy suddenly grabbed his hand and roughly shoved him off, curtly turning around, as Haechan recoiled in his own chair, back colliding with it in a loud thud as he stared at the older in shock – perhaps, even in fright. Now facing him, Haechan could see very well the tired and hard eyes, the mouth turned into a snarl, canines slightly showing. He looked seconds away from actually snapping and growling at him. Anger and sourness filled the air, and Haechan wasn’t stupid, he knew he was the cause of it. But for once, he wasn’t happy with it.

 

‘Why can’t she see that he doesn’t like her?’

 

No, for once he was terrified, because he realized that maybe he pushed his luck too far and that maybe the last alpha in school who tolerate him – Jeno doesn’t count – might actually have had enough of him. In this moment, the realization that Mark really hates him hit him and he didn’t like that one bit.

A few seconds passed, neither of the boys saying anything, Haechan’s eyes still wide and fixed on the older, and it took all his will power not to shrink in his chair or let it show that he was scared. But something probably gave it away because Mark’s face suddenly changed, something in his eyes shifted and he sighed tiredly, pressing his hand into his face.

‘Haechan can you just for once leave me alone. Today is really not the day-’

 

‘Are you kidding right now? He is just way too considerate to tell her off.’

 

He glanced at Mark’s exhausted form and it was like cold water was poured on him. Guilt eat him alive; how annoying it must have been for Mark, and yet he never fully snapped, not even now. Mark was someone good. And Haechan liked him. The alpha had bags under his eyes, his cheeks were sullen, his nails bitten but most importantly his usual fresh grass and mint scent reeked of something else than anger- pain, there was pain in his scent, and yet he never snapped. Now, Haechan knew he wasn’t the cause of such state, but he knew that his daily banter with the alpha definitely fueled it. And Mark definitely didn’t need that right now.

Somin was right.

Scent souring, he ignored the pain and guilt in his chest at finding out the ultimate truth and broke the staring contest. He ignored Mark’s call, and welcomed Jaemin’s scent when the boy reached out with it to comfort him, and rummaged into his pencil case in search for a peculiar object. Blinking away the wetness in his eyes as he heard one alpha snickering a ‘pest’ – he won’t break, not when Mark was the one in need of peace and not in need of feeling sorry – he just let himself bath in Jaemin’s scent. He knew the beta was seething but he also knew that he wouldn’t act on it in respect for Hyuck.

When his hand made contact with the green pencil sharpener, he held it a few more seconds, relishing into the happy memories it held, the memories of a time when he was young and careless and was happy to have found an alpha who tolerated him and his antics, a time when Mark Lee would childishly snap back and tell him to shut up halfheartedly. Guess they finally grew up… and now it was time for Donghyuck to be considerate and responsible too.

Breathing out, he grabbed it firmly and shoved it onto Mark’s chest.

‘Here. Thanks for letting me have it.’ He heard the object clatter on the table and felt Mark’s confusion, and had to hold a back a bittersweet chuckle. So the alpha didn’t even remember his own pencil sharpener.

Mark frowned and something must have clicked in his mind because Hyuck felt his scent change, almost ad if he was panicking. Weird.

‘It’s yours, not mine Hyuck.’

Ah. And Donghyuck would have laughed at Mark’s certainty if he wasn’t wounded too much in his pride.

Mark made a move to put it back on his table, but Haechan just pushed it back onto Mark’s, the boy’s bracelets clinking as he made to catch it.

‘Well, you have a short memory then.’ he gritted out, fierceness back in him as he scratched the answer to a question about wolves down his textbook angrily. But the tremor in his voice was still here, even he himself could hear it.

‘No, Donghyuck, I mean it’s-’

‘Hello everyone, please open your books page 78.’ The voice of the teacher interrupted him and Mark leaned back in his chair reluctantly, scent still sour, and Haechan, for once, was grateful for the interruption.

 

– 

 

Later on, when school has ended and Donghyuck is buried in Jaemin’s embrace under his yellow bed covers, hand pressed against his birthmark, he couldn’t help but come to a conclusion.

‘Feelings suck.’

Jaemin only hummed in agreement and carded his fingers through Donghyuck’s red locks, and, together, they left for dreamland, an alternate reality in which they were happy.

 

– – – – – 

 

The next days passed in a blur. Jaemin and Donghyuck were technically not avoiding Jeno and Renjun, neither were they technically not avoiding Mark, no, technically they were ‘seeing knew things’ – they were avoiding them.

They kept eating inside the classroom, pretending to work on a project, and everytime Hyuck had philosophy or wolf history classes, he would pretend to be asleep before the class started so he didn’t have to face Mark. After school they would go in town, in hope of taking their minds off these three boys. But of course, they were not stupid and they knew that the other wolves would catch up pretty quickly. But for now, they were not ready to face them. So they hid.

But it still took a toll on them. Inside, Hyuck felt like he was hollow. He didn’t want to submit or anything, no, he just had gotten attached to pissing the hell out of Mark. So not doing it anymore feels like being suddenly deprived of a cigarette when you’ve been smoking for years. Empty, itching and craving. But he had to keep going, he had to grow up a bit, he had seen the state of the Alpha the whole week, and after Hyuck stopped annoying him, it seemed like he was still going through a hard time. So he felt like he did the right thing by stopping, because Mark’s state would have been way worse otherwise. Yet, Haechan’s body was taking a toll from that too. First, his collarbones were slightly itching, which happened everytime he was about to go through heat – and he was so not looking forward to it this month – and second of all the constant reminder that his behavior didn’t sit well with people in his life was starting to eat him up, and the eye bags under his eyes were its proof. But he was strong and determined, and so was Jaemin, so they’ll live through it.

And the avoiding phase was going on pretty well so far.

So Hyuck, feeling reassured, went to the locker room, careless and already thinking of what he was gonna eat tonight. Opening his locker to change into casual clothes, he hummed the song that was blasting in his ears – focused on the lyrics – and never noticed the overwhelming scent of an alpha entering the room. But when he did, it was already too late.

A hand laid heavy on his shoulder and he stiffened, claws extracting. You see, Hyuck and Jaemin were not usually kind and tender when you bother them, but on days like these? They were on edge and ready to rip you apart.

Shrugging the hand off, he snarled, and turned around, falling face to face with an unknown alpha. The dude’s hand was hovering in the air and his face was contorted in a frown. Knowing where this was going and for once in his life, wanting to be left in peace, he sighed and leaned against his locker and crossed his arms.

‘What is it?’ he nodded toward the dude, who just gulped and tried to ease his frown and confusion at Donghyuck’s response. And the omega had to hold back a snort, the dude probably heard that he snapped easily. Well, surprise, today was this alpha’s lucky day: Hyuck was tired.

‘Huh… I was huh…’ but whatever he was about to say got interrupted by something. And whatever it was, Donghyuck knew it wasn’t good because something changed in the alpha’s eyes. And he groaned internally, so much for trying to be civilized.

‘Watch your attitude omega.’ he growled, and Haechan felt like a vessel was about to pop.

‘Excuse me.’ he gritted out, trying to remain calm, key word being tried because he could feel his claws extending further. The alpha smirked.

‘Crossing your arms over your chest don’t hide your claws. So you’re really as they say.’ he grinned, a wolfish grin that could have been gorgeous if he wasn’t a stupid moron. And people wonder why him and Jaemin lost all hope in humanity.

Hyuck just shrugged and made a move to close his locker. ‘Think whatever you want.’ Door slapping and backpack sliding over his shoulder, the collar of his lose sport shirt moved a bit and Hyuck made a move to put it back in place. But the alpha made a noise of horror and suddenly moved away. Hyuck looked up in surprise, and frowned. What the fuck was wrong with this alpha?

‘N-no way.’ he stuttered, eyes wide in horror and fixed on his now exposed collarbone. Hyuck followed his eyes and saw that he was looking at his birthmark. Okay, what in the world was wrong with this dude.

‘You-you have a baby bite.’ Donghyuck’s eyes widened. Wait what? ‘Oh my god, you have an unwanted mate, you were forced when you were a kid, you’ve had a mate since you were a baby-’

Anger flared in him and he shoved the alpha, hard, making him stumble hard across the bench, cheek bruising in the process.

‘How dare you say that.’ he spit out, venom lacing his words and eyes flashing an orange golden shade. ‘Baby bites- having a mate by mistake when you’re a kid or having it force on you is something horrible that you shouldn’t joke about you fucktard! This is a birthmark not a mating bite, are you crazy?!’

Hyuck doesn’t know what he expected after his little outburst. An apology maybe? Or at least a realization. But no, he should have seen it coming, alphas are alphas after all… 

He watched in annoyance and dread as the alpha slowly came back to his senses and realized what just happened. And in a fraction of seconds he was on his feet, claws out, growling and eyes flashing a bright red.

‘Fuck, I’m too exhausted to deal with this shit….’ he mumbled, feeling the sleep deprivation and the upcoming heat considerably slowing his body and cursing when he realized he wouldn’t be able to fight back today. Cursing under his breath, he closed his eyes and chose to protect himself by turning sideways for his shoulder to take the blow as the hand lashed toward him.

But nothing happened.

Opening his eyes in confusion, he saw no hands or claws coming at him, and turned a bit only to see the dude a few steps away, claws retracted but eyes still shining red. Sensing his confusion, the guy just smirked, eyes shining in delight. A look he and many other omegas knew too well.

Donghyuck realized his mistake a second too late when the alpha opened his mouth.

‘Submit.’

He hurled over clutching his stomach in pain, eyes wetting and hand desperately gripping a locker’s handle. His knees were threatening to give out at any moment now, but he couldn’t allow that. He gritted his teeth and gasped out in pain as the alpha’s scent was growing stronger and he could feel his hand trembling on the handle. Biting the inside of his cheeks, he took a sharp exhale and tried to focus on his breathing to resist the attack. He could do it, he knew he could resist, he had done it plenty of times already. So he raised his eyes and look at the alpha in the eyes, and growled. A smirk formed on his features as the alpha groaned in annoyance, unknowingly lowering the dominance in his scent and letting him some time straighten up a bit.

But the alpha saw it right away – Hyuck had hoped he was dumb enough not to notice – and growled again. Hyuck felt his body go forward and he gripped the handle tighter than ever, groaning in pain, a bed of sweat rolling down his forehead and stomach aching from so much resistance. Resisting hurt so much….

‘Fu-fuck you asshole.’ Okay maybe not his wisest decision seeing that the alpha was now furious, but the look on his face at being called that? Worth a thousand waves of pain. Speaking of which, Donghyuck groaned as another one scoured through him and this time he felt his knees give away.

Whimpering in pain, as the alpha smirked and let out more pheromones, the omega felt his vision cloud.

‘Shit…’ he mumbled, clammy fingers slipping against the handle. He couldn’t. If he let go and fell on his knees that would mean the asshole would have won, and this guy was not gonna be the first alpha to have him submit unwillingly! Gritting his teeth, he tried to resist some more but he was too weak today and his legs finally gave away. Left hand now desperately holding the handle, he looked up at the alpha with lidded eyes, feeling his control get away.

‘I ho-hope your dick gets chopped off.’ he heaved out, fingers finally slipping. He closed his eyes and refrained a cry when he heard the alpha chuckle darkly, and his body finally tipped forward.

But suddenly, the stifling alpha’s dominance broke and Donghyuck’s knees touched the ground, freed of all hold.

Fuck yes.

Falling forward in relief and exhaustion, he had no time to ready himself for the hit his head was about to take as strong arms wrapped themselves around his torso, a warm hand caging him against a broad torso, silver bracelets cool against his temple as fingers slowly carded through his hair. Donghyuck breathed in; fresh grass and mint were filling the room. Donghyuck would have fought this hold, he really would have.

 

‘Don’t fall asleep on me fucktard.’ 

 

But he had missed him way too much – much more than he’d like to admit – to push him away. Instead, he allowed himself to lean against Mark’s torso, and breathed in, reassuring himself that he did not fall under dominance. He was too tired to retort, but hearing Mark’s chuckle, he realized he must have thought he was doing it out of antics. But suddenly Mark’s scent soured.

Oh.

The omega’s mood fell, the sourness reminding him why he was less in Mark’s face these days, and the guilt for making Mark ‘save’ him started to build up in his stomach. He couldn’t bother Mark anymore. It was his battle to fight.

Donghyuck sighed and pushed his shaky palms to the cold floor tiles, palms he willed to still as he pushed himself away from Mark, when the hold around him tightened and brought him back in place. Eyes wide, he stumbled back onto the older’s torso as an arm slipped around his waist, and Donghyuck hated the way his heartbeat quickened. What in the world… but wasn’t Mark’s scent souring because of him?

‘Care…’ Mark’s voice was so low, he sounded bestial. A quick growl and an exhale were heard and Donghyuck felt the hands around him tighten. ‘… to explain what you were doing, bastard?’

‘I- I…’ the other alpha in the room was now in distress, Donghyuck could feel it now that he had regained control. A smirk edged its way on his lips when he saw the bruise on the alpha’s jaw. ‘C’mon man, you know how it gets when they resist you!’ he dared to smile at them, and Donghyuck felt rage building in his stomach. They, the omegas, weren’t toys that would obey your every orders, they had rights and feelings of their own!

He was about to open his mouth but a hand suddenly came to a rest by his neck, thumb rubbing the side of his jaw, bracelets clinking in the process, and Donghyuck froze but went slack. It was a gesture he’d seen Mark do to every members of his pack, especially the younglings, it was a way to calm them down, without imposing anything on them. Hyuck knew that because he once saw him do that to Jisung, his youngest member, but Jisung still shoved his hand away and went to fight a beta whose name he couldn’t care to remember, and Mark had shrugged at Chenle’s disapproving face saying something along the lines of ‘He can do what he wants.’ Same happened with Jeno, when someone threatened to harm Mark and the later had tried to sooth him with the gesture, but Jeno had simply shoved him away and walked toward the culprit. When Renjun had complained, he had shrugged and said the same thing he said to Chenle. And for these reasons, Donghyuck admired Mark and maybe that was also why he liked him so much. Mark respected people, not based on their status but based on the person they were.

‘No I don’t know.’ Mark’s snort brought him out of his thoughts and his words made him smile. See? That’s what he was on about.

‘B-but-’

‘No. Just shut up. You don’t realize how wrong you are, do you? It’s not because you’re born with the ability to control someone that you should use it on everyone who resists you.’

Pride swelled in his chest at these words, and he fought back a smile.

‘This guy and every omegas have every rights to resist you. Do you have a sibling Lucas? Because if you had one and they were an omega, and suddenly you learn that someone forced their dominance over them, how would you react?’

The look of horror crossing Lucas’ features almost made Haechan feel sorry for him. Realization must have hit hard.

‘If you fail to understand the value of someone, then maybe you didn’t deserve to be an alpha in the first place.’ Mark concluded, and at this precise moment Haechan knew why Jeno choose Mark’s pack as his own.

‘I…’ Lucas looked close to tears, and he hung his head low as he bowed, truly shocking the both of them. ‘You are right. I’m sorry, and I know it’s not enough, but I should never have used it against you Haechan. Now that I think about it, you never wanted to fight me did you? Actually, you never wanted to fight any alphas did you?’

The alphas eyes widened as both looked straight at Haechan, shock written all over their features. Haechan sputtered at that, and from the corner of his eyes he saw Mark’s eyebrows raise in surprise at Lucas’ words. Haechan was knew to fight everyone.

‘What are you on about…’ Haechan mumbled, fighting the urge to crawl away and punch this dude.

‘We… I read it all wrong, right? I attacked you because I saw your claws and I thought you wanted to defy me but you actually hid them from me, so you wouldn’t trigger my anger, because you knew you wouldn’t submit. And I read it all wrong.’ he whispered the last part and Haechan felt his throat tighten as he blinked away the wetness in his eyes. This bastard, who almost made him submit, was the one who finally understood his true intentions. Life was really a joke. Hearing the words out of someone’s mouth felt so good though… 

‘What…’ Mark’s mutter resonated in the air, and Donghyuck wanted to hide away. He didn’t want Mark to feel sorry, not when he had managed to avoid him for so long and spare him so much annoyance. He didn’t want Mark to feel anything negative toward him anymore.

‘I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I hope one day you’ll forgive me.’ Lucas bowed profusely and looked at Haechan with new found fire in his eyes. ‘I swear that from now on, I’ll do my best to try and control my instincts better and protect omegas!’

And with that he left, leaving behind himself the scent of joy and caramel. Donghyuck blinked and fought back a smile. He hoped the asshole’s words were true.

Suddenly, Mark was all over him again, worry clouding his scent.

‘Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Oh my god, I-’

Haechan groaned and gently shoved the older away.

‘Shut up dickhead, you’re giving me headaches.’

With that, he sat up and tried to control his emotions a bit better. He expected to hear Mark groan or to feel his scent sour, but no, the older just chuckled and sighed, helping him up. Donghyuck let him pull him up by the hands and tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach due to having Mark so close once again. Now at eye level, Donghyuck had to raise his head a bit to look at Mark, raising a brow when the older kept on holding his two hands. But Mark didn’t say anything, didn’t do anything, he just looked at him. And Donghyuck felt himself drown into the dark red pools staring back at him. Mark’s alpha eyes were really beautiful, their shade of red was deep and lured you in. They were imposing but warm at the same time. It was weird, and Haechan felt butterflies in his stomach everytime he did so much as glance at them.

Slowly, the alpha started to lead him toward the bench, never breaking eye contact, and Donghyuck sat, knowing there and then that now he would have to face Mark. Mark crouched in front of him, still refusing to let his hands go, which was starting to fluster him a bit too much. But then Mark’s scent soured again and Hyuck wanted to escape. To distract himself, he began to count the number of bracelet’s on Mark’s wrist; twelve, four silver ones, two leather ones, five braided ones, and one thin chain with a moon and sun pendant – all thick enough and close together to cover the whole skin of his wrist.

‘I’m sorry.’ he blurted out, the tension becoming so thick he couldn’t handle it. He had to talk first and apologize to Mark for bothering him once again.

‘You better be.’

And Haechan’s heart sank. Mark saying this outloud was like the ultimate proof that he was a nuisance for him. And it would have sat fine with Donghyuck to be a nuisance to anyone, to anyone but Mark or the ones he loves. So he nodded and kept his eyes focused on the bracelets.

‘Yes. I am. I’m really sorry that you had to put up with me once more, I swear I didn’t intend for it to happen.’ he breathed in and let his eyes fall on Mark ones once again. They were back to brown. ‘For bothering you so much, all these years, I’m really sorry. I won’t anymore.’

His voice broke at the end, and he resisted the urge to punch himself for sounding like a kicked puppy. But Mark just kept staring at him with his big brown eyes, and furrowed brows, and parted lips and finally he said:

 

‘What the fuck Donghyuck…’

 

Wait, what? No, no, no Mark was supposed to be happy with that, why was his scent souring more?

‘Why… why would you think you’re bothering me?’ Mark finally said, and Donghyuck snorted, his body going limp against the locker behind him. He was tired, tired because of earlier, tired because he was sleep deprived and his heat was coming soon, tired of Mark’s facade.

‘Oh please, Mark. Not when we are alone.’ he said tiredly, smiling sadly at the older. ‘I appreciate what you did for me earlier, it was really kind and I’m sure you would have done it for everyone. But I know you did it out of values- and I respect that. So please, don’t act like you like me, like you care. I know you don’t, and that’s fine, really, so please drop the act when we are alone.’

‘What- okay Hyuck, where does that come from?’ he questioned, anger now clearly here and suddenly, Donghyuck felt doubt creep in him. Was he… could he possibly have been wrong? Surely not… right?

‘You… you didn’t tolerate me out of consideration for our parents?’

A head shaking.

‘You don’t find me annoying?’

Another one.

‘But you were so tired of me last time and you snapped, and Somin said-’

Yet another shake.

‘And your scent kept souring…’

‘Hyuck…’ Mark intertwined their fingers and Haechan felt his resolve break.

‘I thought you… never…’

‘Never Hyuck. Not even once.’

Mortification hit him like a truck. He tore his hands away from Mark’s and buried his head in them.

‘Oh god, I feel so dumb now.’

Mark laughed and pried his hands away and opened his mouth to speak but Haechan groaned and turned sideways on the bench.

‘Oh fuck off dickhead.’ he snarled, crossing his arms around himself and Mark laughed again but sat in front of him on the bench this time.

‘Listen Hyuck. I don’t know what the fuck Somin said but I can assure you that I never once wished for you to change or stop from talking to me. You never once bothered me – sure at times you are annoying, but hey, that’s what makes you you, dude. If it really did bother me, I would have asked you to stop long ago, but the point is, it doesn’t.’ he breathed in and took the younger’s hands in his yet again. ‘I like you Hyuck, you’re my friend. No matter what people think or what you thought you were, in my heart you were always my friend. And I never once ‘tolerated’ you out of obligation.’

Haechan blinked away his tears and wiped his nose with his sleeve, cursing, which earned him a snickering Mark.

‘Oh shut up dickhead, you’re so sappy.’

‘But you love it.’ he grinned and Haechan found himself grinning back, only stopping when another sob broke through, and this time he couldn’t stop it. He broke down like a crying baby in front of the alpha – the little diva Donghyuck on his left shoulder rolling his eyes and throwing his eyeliner away as he resigned – and Mark’s eyes widened, not knowing what to do. And suddenly, Jeno’s threat of killing him if he ever ‘made one of his precious friends cry’ came up in his mind and he lurched forward to hug the omega.

‘Hey, hey it’s okay Hyuckie. I like you I swear I do-’ Haechan broke down crying harder and punched him on the back and Mark felt the panic arise in him. ‘Oh shit. No, no, no don’t cry! I- huh, I swear I like you! My scent actually soured because of the people around you who kept throwing you nasty looks and comments everytime you teased me, I swear it wasn’t because of you.’

This time, he wailed harder and punched him harder as well. Mark was now frantic. But Mark was dumb in some ways, so he went on:

‘I- and I snapped because I was having a rough day and fucked up my exam and I was in a bad mood and in pain because I was sick, but I swear I never wanted you to actually take it at heart and-’ he suddenly stopped, and his hold on Haechan became firmer but gentler, actually intriguing the sobbing mess who calmed down a bit. Mark slowly lowered his head on his younger friend’s shoulder and sighed.

‘… and when you gave me back the pencil sharpener after all these years I gave it to you, I realized how much I fucked up.’ his voice was softer now, full of regret and reminiscence, similar to his own back on the day he spoke to Jaemin on the rooftop. ‘That’s why I tried to say it wasn’t mine.’

Haechan’s breath hitch and his eyes widened in realization, droplets of water hitting the bench.

‘It wasn’t mine because it was always yours, Hyuck.’

 

– – – – – 

 

Hyuck turned around in his bed, and groaned, feeling like shit.

Sitting up, he scratched his itching collarbone, stopping on his birthmark. His birthmark…. the events of yesterday flew back in his mind and he fought back a smile. Mark and him were now officially friends and back to their usual banters.

Still feeling like shit, but a happy shit this time, he stood up with a smile and groggily chugged on his jeans and shirt. He frowned, his mouth dry and tasting like cement, he desperately needed a drink. Or maybe he could make Mark smell his bad breath to piss him off?

Yeah, no, iced coffee before school, that’s it.

Suddenly a shiver ran through his spine, making him frown even more. He was never cold, especially not during June. Except it… Grabbing his backpack and exiting his room, he unlocked his phone to check his calendar. No, as he remembered, his heat was supposed to happen next week, but the symptoms were here. Weird…

Ignoring it, he walked down the stairs and grabbed a burrito from the plate left by his brother. Opening his front door, he locked it and bit into his burrito as he shoved his key into his jean’s back pocket. However the moment the first bite entered his mouth, he hurled forward and spit it out, clutching his stomach in pain.

Slowly, getting his senses back, he leaned his hand against his door and stared at the mess before his front door. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he felt literal heat spreading through his body and groaned in annoyance, which quickly turned into a whimper the moment it hit his ribs.

Fuck, he was entering heat.

Now, fake common preconception number one: no, omegas weren’t simply horny and needy when they went through heat. Nor did they need to have sex to feel better, a simple touch from an alpha was enough. But it was risky, because if the alpha lack control, then things could escalate quickly, hence why Hyuck always coped with his own heats alone. And sure, a part of them – omegas – wants nothing but pleasure, but another part just wants violence just as much. So Haechan was definitely better on his own.

Oh and during heat, they were picky with food or else they felt like throwing up – yeah, sounds like a pregnant chick, he knew, but no, thank you very much. He’ll do fine without the comparison.

All in all, heat was like a bloodlust paired with the want to please and be pleased, with a huge mother fucking handful of pain. And heat. A lot of physical heat to the point of coming in contact with something could be unbearable at times. He once had no choice but to spend a whole afternoon in a bathtub filled with cold water his mother had the kindness to change every thirty minutes (oh, how salty the bill had been at the end of the month~) because it was unbearable.

All in all heat was a bitch.

Eyes blurry due to heat and pain, he blindly reached for the handle and tried to open the door before some alpha or beta smelled him, and cursed because, oh just his luck, the door was lock.

‘Hyuck? You’re okay- oh shit.’

 

Haechan groaned. Just his luck.

Mark Minhyung Lee was just walking down the street – probably guessing what was happening judging by the hurried footsteps coming his ways – and was now coming to the rescue. Fuck Mark Minhyung dickhead Lee and his prince in shining armor kink.

The real problem though was that Haechan didn’t want Mark to see him in this state, nor did he trust him in this situation – as much as he liked him, alphas remain alphas.

‘I’m fine Mark.’ he groaned, breath heaving as he blindly reached for his back pocket. ‘Just leave. I’ll be fine-’

A whimper left his mouth and he flushed bright red at the wave of pleasure that hit him the moment his fingers made contact with his own butt cheek. Head leaning against the door, he cursed under his breath, mortified by what just happened.

‘Someone kill me.’ he muttered under his breath. Now, he was a boy with needs like everyone else, and he was not gonna pretend to be a little saint when he already sat more than once in front of his computer with the incognito mode on. BUT, having Mark hear and witness him during a moment of... weakness? That was problematic and absolutely not the image he wanted the older to have linked to him in his mind.

‘No clearly you’re not. You need help, you’re in heat-’

‘Oh shut up Mark, I don’t need the whole neighborhood to know it.’ he snapped, this time bet red, but whimpered right away when Mark came closer, unwillingly letting his powerful fresh grass and mint scent out. Haechan wanted to reach out, so, so, so bad. Fuck alphas, fuck omegas, fuck the world and fuck heats. Amen.

‘Sorry.’ the boy rubbed his nape, seemingly bashful for saying it outloud. ‘You need to go back inside, where’s your key?’

Donghyuck closed his eyes as mortification took over his body once again, and prayed for someone to save him. But since obviously no one else but Mark was gonna come around – he made a reminder in the back of his mind to thank Mark for covering his scent with his own – he breathed in and readied himself for the embarrassing moment that was to follow.

‘In… my back pocket.’ He tried to ignore the way Mark’s eyes went down his body to look at his back pocket, and by doing so, eyeing his ass. But after not even two seconds, Mark realized that he was staring and turned away, bet red too. Donghyuck would have laughed and teased him for being so prude but right now he felt like dying so if Mark could kindly say something or leave that would be kind.

‘Huh… Hyuck what do we do? Your scent is getting sweeter and… huh… appealing. I won’t be able to cover it for much longer.’ Mark genuinely looked panicked right now and Donghyuck would have been moved if he didn’t felt like smashing a tree.

However a wave of heat coursed through his body and he hugged himself tighter.

‘Ah.’ Mark let out, realizing something. ‘My presence makes it worse.’

‘Congrats dickhead, wow. Discovery of the year, really. Do you want a Grammy maybe?’ he snorted, ignoring the flush that his body took at Mark’s hard stare.

‘Grammy are not- nevermind.’ he shook his head, and looked around. ‘I can call Jaemin or Renjun? Maybe they can bring you to their home-’

However in the next moment, Haechan fell on his knees and his eyes flashed a golden orange, and he… whimpered.

Mark’s eyes widened and he gulped, his own eyes flashing red for a second. Donghyuck never whimpered in front of anyone, that would be a sign of submission or weakness that the younger never want anyone to witness, Mark was aware of that much. That meant that Donghyuck was losing control.

Breathing in, he tried to control himself and think of a solution. Renjun and Jaemin would take too much time… A foreign alpha scent invaded his nostrils, coming from down the street, and he frowned.

‘Shit, no time for that.’ he cursed and tried to think of what he would do as both a friend and a leader if Chenle or Renjun ever fell into this situation. Eyes focusing back on his younger friend, a wave of protectiveness washed over him, and suddenly he felt calm and composed.

Kneeling down, he gently brought his hand to Donghyuck’s face, knowing that his alpha touch would calm him, and he was proven right when the younger looked up with half lidded golden eyes. Willing his own eyes to not shift red so as to not scare Donghyuck away, he cradled his face in his palm and brought it closer to his own.

‘I’m helping you out, is that okay Hyuckie?’ he asked softly, voice low, so as to show him that he wasn’t imposing anything on him. The technique seemed to work since the omega nodded and leaned into his palm, eyes threatening to close from exhaustion.

‘Hey, hey, hey, eyes on me sunshine. That’s it.’ he praised, smiling contently when Donghyuck whimpered into his hand but obeyed. Now, Mark had never seen Hyuck behave as a typical omega, so it was quite surprising, but the fire in the younger’s eyes told him not to try anything alphaish on him – not that he ever wanted.

Rubbing his thumb against his tan jaw, he leaned in closer, letting the omega bath into his sent. ‘We are going to my house, just over there.’

He pointed the house a bit lower down the street, making sure Donghyuck knew where they were going and consented with it.

‘It’s just for now. I’ll call Doyoung so he can bring you home alright? But you can’t stay in the street.’ he explained, praying that he wouldn’t have to force Donghyuck into coming to his house.

When Donghyuck only growled but nodded after a few moments, Mark sighed in relief. He slid his palm down his jaw to his shoulder blades and moved Haechan a bit, before he looped an arm under his knees, careful not to touch anything that could trigger his pain or arousal. Cradling him against his chest, he willed his scent to wash on the younger as much as possible, so that he would smell nothing but him. When the younger whimpered, he finally stood up with the omega in his arms and hurried down the street, Haechan’s eyes closing as he passed out.

As he reached his own house, he looked down at Haechan and shifted him in only one arm, so that he could fetch his own keys, Haechan’s head falling into his neck in the process. He hoped that Doyoung could be there before Haechan’s heat fully starts, otherwise, Hyuck was good to stay into his own room – and he did not want Haechan to see his collection of Red Velvet’s posters.

 

– – – – – 

 

When he fluttered his eyes open, Donghyuck felt his insides churn and grasped the blue covers tightly. Now he was really feeling like shit.

Rolling on his back he realized he was not in his room and widened his eyes in slight panic.

Sitting up, he looked around desperately and tried to find any clue of where he was, any signs – fresh grass and mint. 

 

Mark.

 

He sighed, and leaned back against the headboard in relief. For a moment he thought that a random alpha had picked him off the streets. Blurred memories of what happened clouded his mind, and he could only make out Mark helping him out.

Sighing again, he looked around the room, and took a sniff. His own scent was already really sweet. Clutching his sore ribs, he prayed to all saints that he had not enter full heat yet, or else he was not sure how he would go back home.

Suddenly, the door burst open.

‘Hyuck you’re awake- oh fuck.’ Haechan looked up, only to see Mark by the door, covering his nose with his left hand and clutching the door with the other.

‘Are you okay?’ Haechan tried worriedly, his voice coming out hoarse and small. Mark nodded and exhaled, careful not to step into the room further.

‘Yeah, it’s just… your scent is everywhere. And it’s sweet. Really sweet. Sorry that was weird.’

Mark looked like a constipated elephant in the middle of a china shop, and Haechan would have laughed and cooed if not for his current state.

‘I’ll live.’ he shrugged and kicked the covers away once a wave of heat hit him. Flushing, his head ducked down in embarrassment. ‘Sorry about that and thanks. Is Doyoungie coming soon?’

Mark rubbed his head sheepishly and Haechan frowned. The older looked like he was about to announce to his parents that he was actually a pink whale.

‘About that… your brother is stuck at a meeting, and he really can’t get out of it. He’ll come by tonight. And you’re already too far into heat to… hum… walk out.’

Haechan paled. No way.

‘It means that you… have to stay here for the week.’

Mark’s scent soured and Haechan groaned, letting his body fall limp into the bed.

‘I am so sorry Mark. I feel like I keep inconveniencing you.’ his voice was almost nonexistent at this point and he stared blankly at the ceiling. He wanted to die. He didn’t want to bother Mark and his family, life was unfair.

However, Mark’s scent sweetened and warmed up in the next moment, and he felt the bed dip next to him. Haechan whimpered and curled into a ball. Why did Mark have to come closer? Now he wanted to reach out for the alpha. Fuck heats.

‘You are not Hyuckie.’ he chuckled and Haechan found it in himself to snort.

‘How benevolent of you then, oh great alpha Markie poo.’ he singsonged, voice dripping with sarcasm but no real bite in it.

Mark fought back a smile and Haechan grinned at that, messy sweaty hair falling over his eyes. Mark gazed at him and hold out his hand, Haechan looking at it in confusion but Mark only nudged it forward. Haechan looked at it one more time before finally giving up and reaching out to play with the older’s fingers. Haechan sighed in delight and laced their fingers together. God damn, alphas’ touches are really effective, his ribs were already hurting less.

‘This is my room.’ he stopped Haechan from talking as soon as he saw the panicked look on the younger’s face and rubbed his thumb comfortingly. ‘But I won’t be sleeping in it. It is yours for the week.’

Haechan groaned but nodded, and Mark outstretched his other hand to brush the omega’s brown locks away from his forehead. Haechan leaned in the touch, feeling better already.

‘I don’t understand.’ he whined, pushing his head further into Mark’s palm. ‘My heat wasn’t supposed to start before a week.’

‘I think yesterday triggered it.’ the older explained, referring to the almost successful forced submission and Haechan cursed.

‘It’s going to be hell.’ he declared, slumping into the bed, eyes lifeless.

‘If… ‘ Mark began and Haechan looked up only to see him fiddling with the bed covers. ‘If you want it, I can take care of you.’

Haechan blinked.

What.

The.

Fuck.

Mark, realizing what he just said, gasped and jumped back, letting go of the younger and comically falling on the floor as he waved his hands frantically, eyes wide and cheeks bright red.

‘No, no, no! Not like that, Hyuck! I swear I- oh shit, Mark you dumbass.’ he mumbled the last part and hit his forehead dramatically, waiting for the ground to swallow him.

Haechan blinked again, and suddenly burst out laughing.

‘Oh my god Mark.’ he wiped off a few stray tears, eyes crinkling in amusement and coughing. ‘I always knew you were a perv.’

Mark flushed beet red at the teasing and threw him a socket.

‘I- Shut the fuck up fucktard.’ he mumbled, cheeks still red and looking away, pouting. Sometimes it was hard to believe Mark was an alpha, let alone a pack leader. Haechan softened at that, and decided to indulge him.

‘Then what do you mean?’

Mark looked back at him and fiddled with his fingers.

‘Well… I know that someone needs to take care of you, like bringing you food and water, and washing your face… stuffs like that.’ he looked down, rubbing his nape, a habit he had when he was nervous or unsure. ‘And… I heard that having an alpha cuddling you could stop the pain completely.’

Haechan gulped at that. He heard of it, it seemed like heaven honestly, this proposal. But it was also risky for obvious reasons.

‘I have a lot of self control, you don’t have to worry about it.’ he assured but seeing Haechan only staring back at him blankly, he gulped. ‘But you… don’t have to accept of course. I’m not forcing you. If you want I can call Renjun.’

He watched as Mark frowned and reached for his phone.

‘Actually, I should have done that since the beginning, it was stupid to ask that…’ he mumbled, frown deepening. Haechan watched as he fiddled with his device, and tentatively reached out to grasp Mark’s sweater. The older froze and looked up in shock but Haechan was looking sideways, a slight blush on his cheeks.

Haechan’s heart was weak.

‘Don’t.’ he mumbled. ‘I… okay. I want it.’

And this was way too tempting.

Mark’s eyes widened comically, and he dropped his phone on the floor.

‘You’re serious?’

Haechan let go of the sweater, and rolled on his back, cheeks still flush.

‘Shut up dickhead and help me out of these clothes.’

Mark paled.

‘Eh?’

‘Oh my god Mark.’ Haechan groaned as sweat started to form on his forehead, hands covering his face in exasperation. ‘I’m in heat, the name speaks for itself! You’re aware that no omega can stand being clothed right?’

At Mark’s silence he groaned and facepalmed. Of course Mark said that out of kindness, the poor boy knew nothing about heat’s reality. He couldn’t ask that out of Mark then, that wouldn’t be cool.

Offering the boy a soft smile, he turned around and sat up, and gripped the edges of his hoodie.

‘Nevermind that, it’s fine…’ he sighed and slid it off with struggles. ‘Just call Renjun and leave me alone until he arrives, I’ll be okay.’

He tiredly raised his arms and pushed the hoodie off his head, listening to Mark’s footsteps as they walked away.

But suddenly the bed dipped in front of him and hands wrapped around his own, pulling the sweatshirt completely off. Haechan looked up in surprise, only to find Mark looking down at him with warm eyes and a comforting smile.

‘I’ll do it.’ he stated determined, and Haechan raised a brow when he saw that.

‘What’s that? One second ago you were having a mental breakdown.’

‘Sorry. I freaked out, I just didn’t expect you to be so blunt about it.’ he explained as he gently tugged off the younger’s jeans.

Haechan laughed, and wiggled his legs to help Mark.

‘Oh, sorry mom for stating the obvious outloud~’ he grinned sweetly, blinking his eyes fast as Mark groaned but chuckle, shoving him slightly. ‘No but, seriously, we’re both dudes, that’s cool.’

‘Shut up fucktard.’ the alpha growled and grinned, shaking his head as he laughed. ‘Forgive me for being modest.’

Haechan kept laughing, harder this time, baring his teeth teasingly at the alpha. Mark only raised a brow and tugged the jeans off in one go, making the younger lose his balance and fall back on the bed.

‘Yah.’ Haechan glared, raising on his elbows and slightly kicking Mark’s chest. ‘I thought you would to take care of me, not attempt to kill me.’

Mark rolled his eyes and took off the younger’s socks, grabbing his tan arm and gently tugging him up. Haechan whined and crossed his arms as Mark forced him to sit up.

‘Oh my god. You’re worse than my sister’s baby.’ he exclaimed rubbing his temples. ‘Arms up, you brat.’

‘Yes mom.’ Haechan sickeningly sweetly said, and Mark breathed in.

‘That’s it. I’m calling Renjun.’

Haechan laughed out loud, proud of himself and Mark facepalmed. How can the younger still find it in himself to tease him when not even five seconds before he felt like dying? Haechan was really something.

However, the omega calmed down quickly when a strong wave of pain coursed through his body, wincing and curling on himself. Mark softened and brought his hand down the side of his neck, thumb caressing his jaw, making the younger sigh in relief and look up.

‘Arms up, please.’ he repeated, voice soft and serious. Haechan gulped and obeyed, feeling slightly self conscious when Mark raised his shirt over his chest, but it quickly washed away once he remembered Mark standing naked in the neighborhood along with Jeno when they were fifteen, with only a pink rubber ring to cover their dignity, after Chenle and Jisung had stole their clothes and run away. Haechan had recorded everything from his balcony, and sent it to their group chat, resulting in a week worth of laughter and mocking from both Jaemin and Renjun.

Suddenly Mark’s hands were at the waistband of his boxers and Haechan snapped out of his reverie, grabbing them.

‘This, I can do myself.’ he said, mentioning for the older to turn around. Mark laughed and snorted, but obeyed as Haechan stripped.

‘I thought we were both dudes.’ he teased, earning himself a wack from a pillow.

‘Well, turns out I’m modest too. I don’t mind you seeing it, but taking the boxers off? A bit too intimate here. I have a dignity to save-’ he glared when Mark fake coughed, throwing him a second pillow once he realized Mark couldn’t see him. ‘- at least, I’m not the one hiding behind a pink rubbing ring.’

Mark’s nape flushed red at the mention.

‘Shut up fucktard.’ he whined at the cringy memory and Haechan smirked.

‘Okay you can turn around dickhead.’

Mark did so, but screamed and hid behind his hands.

‘What the fuck dude?!’ he winced in English, face now completely flushed, but Haechan only frowned and looked down at his naked self.

‘What? Hey are you making fun of my-’ Haechan began but was interrupted by Mark throwing him back a pillow.

‘Shut up and cover yourself. Dude, you can’t just stand like that.’ Mark sighed as Haechan rolled his eyes and covered his friend with the pillow. ‘Look, I don’t give a fuck about seeing you naked, I mean I’ve seen and showered with dozens of naked dudes, including Chenle and Jeno, during gym- okay, that sounded weird, I’ll stop now.’

Haechan muffled a laugh.

‘Anyways, what I mean is: imagine if my mom or sister were to suddenly walk in. Boom, your dignity? Gone forever.’

Haechan paled at that mention and kicked the covers, sliding under them quickly.

Mark laughed at that and mentioned for him to move aside bit. Haechan complied and Mark sat next to him, leaning against the headboard. Looking down at the younger, he brushed his fingers against the younger’s soft but sweaty hair. Haechan leaned in the touch, a calming wave spreading through his body.

‘How come you’re not affected by my heat?’ he mumbled, eyes closing in exhaustion.

Mark chuckled and looked at his set of bracelets, the four braided ones to be precise.

‘I am affected. God, you should smell yourself Hyuck, you smell like heaven right now.’ he confessed and Haechan blushed. ‘But I learned to control myself. I have to ensure Chenle and Renjun’s safety no matter what, so I can’t allow myself to fall for an omega’s scent.’

Haechan only hummed for him to go on.

‘When Chenle’s first heat took place, I had to control myself first and then get Jisung away because he was young and had troubles fully controlling himself. I had to ask my brother to take Jeno away because he had troubles resisting at that time – he wasn’t mate with Renjun yet. When I realized that no one could help Chenle but I, it took a lot of self control but I managed and looked after him for two days before his cousin took over. He was so frightened and in pain… it wasn’t hard to stop myself, instead it was like I was feeling his pain. I remember him hugging me so tight because he was terrified, I wanted him to stop crying so, so much. Chenle’s like my little brother so looking after him, giving him food, helping him bath, cuddling him, protecting him, all of that was more out of… wanting to protect him because it’s him, than out of leader’s duty.’

Haechan smiled against the mattress. Mark was cute when he was speaking about his pack, it sounded like he was talking about his family. It sounded lovely…

‘Then one day, Renjun went through heat at school.’ That, Haechan remembered because Jaemin had ran out of the classroom to him, eyes flashing pink and asking him to take him away quickly. ‘He had miscalculated his days, but I guess you know that already. However you also know that Jeno was on field trip with the soccer team this day so I had to… fight off some annoying dicks.’

Haechan opened his eyes and looked at him in shock. Renjun had told them Mark helped him, but he never said that Mark legit fought people…

‘Thankfully, I was able to control myself and Renjun put up a good resistance. Some omegas even helped us by calming the alphas. Then I ran to the infirmary with him on my back and luckily his dad was able to pick him up before things got out of hands.’

‘And since that day Jeno is kissing your feet and worshiping your ass.’ he teased, voice barely coming out and grinning lazily.

Mark snorted and ruffled the younger’s hair gently.

‘I didn’t need that for him to kiss my ass.’

Haechan scoffed, amused, and looked up at Mark who was proudly grinning at him. And his heartbeat quickened at the sight.

Flushing, he adverted his eyes to the alpha’s wrist, eyeing the bracelets.

‘You’re really the only alpha I know that isn’t attracted to sex.’

Mark laughed frankly at that.

‘Oh god, you make it seem like liking sex comes in the alpha package.’ he wiped a stray tear from his cheek and grinned down wolfishly at him. ‘First of all, that’s not true, but not all of us are horny wolves, Hyuck. I don’t need sex to exist and I know how to keep my dick in my pants.’

Haechan snorted but smiled, shaking his head.

‘Yeah, I know that or else I wouldn’t have asked you to take care of me.’

And with that, he snuggled against Mark’s thigh, arms wrapping around his middle.

Mark looked down fondly at the younger and brought the back of his hand against his heated cheek, gently brushing it.

‘Rest. I’ll look after you.’

And Haechan only hummed and closed his eyes, letting exhaustion finally win him over.

 

– – – – – 

 

‘Hoeeeeeee~’

The door burst opened and a wild Jaemin threw himself on the bed, careful not to land square on Haechan but still close enough to annoy him. Haechan threw him a nasty glare and kicked him in the ribs, making Jaemin huff and hit him back. Then he looked up at the younger with a bright smile.

‘You look like shit.’

Haechan threw him his phone and Jaemin rolled down to the floor, where he sat, rubbing his now red cheek.

‘Hey! I need to look good tonight…’ he grumbled, pouting a bit as he eyed the damages on his cheek through his phone screen. ‘Anyways, how are you-’

‘Wait, wait, wait, I’m fine but wait.’ he interrupted, sitting up and looking down at his other friend in awe. ‘Why the fuck do you look so good bitch? You’re practically glowing dude.’

Jaemin smiled sheepishly and rubbed his nape. His hair were pushed back, making him look extra handsome, he had earrings and slight make up, was sporting ripped jeans, a white shirt and a leather jacket. Next to him was a bright orange hoodie, that he would probably wear in case it gets too cold, seeing he was sensitive to cold. But the most stunning thing was his smile, his face – he was glowing. Jaemin bit his lips and he grinned widely at his friend.

‘Okay, you’ve gone mental-’

‘Kai sunbae-nim invited me to hang out with his crew tonight at their fav club!’ Jaemin interrupted, squirming on the spot hysterically, and landing on his back like the over excited mess he was. Hyuck threw him a pillow, raising on his knees.

‘What?! Oh my god, Na Jaemin! You squared yourself a date without me, you loser!’

‘Yah! It’s not a date! He is too old!’ Jaemin laughed, throwing him the pillow back.

‘Well, yeah… but maybe there’ll be some handsome dudes in that club?’ Haechan offered, raising his brow suggestively and Jaemin squealed in happiness.

Haechan looked at him with a small grin. He was happy for his friend. Jaemin was giving himself chances to move on, and he had no doubt that he was still madly head over heels for the two idiots but he was trying and Haechan couldn’t be any prouder of his best friend.

‘Anyways~’ Jaemin singsonged as he sat up, looking over at Haechan excitedly. ‘Enough talk about me-’

Oh fuck.

‘- so you and Mark, huh?’ he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Haechan growled, slumping back against the mattress.

‘Me and Mark, nothing. We are good friends and he helped me out.’

‘Oh, helped you out, huh?’

‘Oh my god, no, shut the fuck up Na Jaemin.’ he laughed and rolled to face his best friend. ‘He looked after me in the purest way possible, stop projecting your fantasies onto me.’

Jaemin laughed frankly at that one and leaned his arm on the bed.

‘Okay, you got me here.’ he joked and leaned his head on his arms. ‘Is he great so far?’

‘Honestly? He is amazing. The amount of self control and patience he has amaze me. I’ve been nothing but a whiny and cuddly bitch so far, and he never complained once nor gave into his urges. He just looks after me and makes sure I’m okay. He is an exceptional alpha.’ he admitted, willing the flush creeping up his neck away.

‘Wow, that’s impressive. I mean, I have no troubles resisting you for obvious reasons,’ Haechan smiled at him, their bond was unique, ‘but I never thought Mark would be that great. But then again we are talking of Mark the oh so great alpha.’

Haechan stuck his tongue out hit his arm.

‘Shut up, if he hears you, I’ll never hear the end of it!’

‘All the more reasons for me to say it~’ he teased but then he leaned in, whispering, ‘ Do you know how hard it was to convince him to let me in?’

Haechan looked up in surprise.

‘What do you mean? You’re my best friend.’

‘Yes, but I’m also a beta.’ he provided. ‘I had to have a thirty minute talk over the phone before he agreed. Talk about over protective alphas.’

Haechan was surprised. He knew that Mark was doing his ‘job’ seriously but he never thought he would care to this extent.

‘Oh, Renjun is stopping by later by the way.’ Jaemin informed, now scrolling on his phone. Haechan raised a brow.

‘Oh, nice. But, since when are we back to not avoiding them?’ Haechan questioned, totally lost.

‘Since your heat began and they cornered me in the cafeteria.’ he explained, looking calm but Haechan could smell the distress in his scent.

‘What did you say?’ he carefully asked, reaching out and brushing a few strands of his hair.

‘I said that we were working on this project, and that we went on study dates after school.’ he shrugged, eyes closing as he leaned into the touch.

‘And they believed that?’ he asked in surprise but Jaemin snorted, amused.

‘Jeno looked close to banging his head on the table and like he wanted to say something, so no, but thank god Renjun stopped him.’ he chuckled dryly. ‘But from the look in his eyes he didn’t believe it one bit either. I guess they are just two respectful idiotic friends?’

Haechan hummed.

‘Sorry I had to leave you all alone with these two idiots.’ he apologized but Jaemin shook his head.

‘Don’t. You don’t control your heats, and it’s already hard as it is.’ he muttered, snuggling into his touch. ‘Plus it gave you some alone time with Markie poo.’

They both grinned at each other, both recalling the call they had the night after the locker room scene, and how they had began planning his and Mark wedding, the names of their five children and where they would spend their honeymoon, before mopping because none of them had enough guts to confess to their friends and Haechan actually wanted to stay friend with Mark as of now.

Haechan smiled, and cuddled closer to Jaemin, allowing the slightly younger boy to wrap his arms around his waist and put his head into his laps.

It was really amazing how immune they were to each other. Haechan could be in heat and Jaemin could be in rut that the both of them wouldn’t feel a thing. Haechan knew that it was biologically inexplicable and yet here they were.

‘I missed you.’ he confessed and Jaemin hugged his waist tighter.

‘I missed you too hoe.’

 

– 

 

‘Hyuckie? Injunie is on his way.’ Mark’s head pocked from the doorway and he smiled at the sight before him. Haechan was on his phone, a hand carding through Jaemin’s hair, who was sitting on the floor and hugging his waist, head on his laps as he slept.

Haechan looked up and nodded, sending a smile to Mark. Mark walked over, letting his scent wash over the younger, who only sighed. Mark had only been away for one hour to give the best friends some time together, but Haechan had began to feel Mark’s absence, the pain coming back to his ribs.

‘Thanks.’ he sighed contently, nearly purring when Mark sat on the other side of the bed and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. The omega leaned his head against his shoulder, the pain already fading away. The shirt he made an effort to wear because he was having company was showing off his collarbones and Mark eyed the crescent shaped birthmark, finger’s barely brushing above it.

‘Birthmark?’ he wondered, looking up at the younger whose eyes widened slightly in surprise.

‘Y-yeah.’ he was genuinely surprised. People who saw it usually assume the worse – refer to a few day prior for further proofs – but Mark, Mark was definitely not like everyone. His heartbeat quickened, and a smile made a way up his lips. ‘Kinda… huh, gross for some people because it looks like a baby bite mark but I like it.’ he shrugged, expecting Mark to simply nod or go with what he was saying.

But the older only hummed and smiled.

‘I think it’s beautiful.’ he confessed, now grinning and pink dusted the younger’s chest and, oh god, he knew his scent was getting sweeter because of happiness. How embarrassing.

‘Th-thanks.’ he cleared his throat and shifted, making Jaemin whine and shift his head on his laps as a result. Haechan rolled his eyes and muttered a ‘whiny bitch’ under his breath but still made sure his head was comfortably resting on his thighs.

‘Wow, you’re really unaffected by Jaemin.’ Mark whispered in surprise, and Haechan chuckled at his wide eyes and parted lips. Cute, Mark was a cute sportive nerd. ‘It’s crazy dude.’ he added in utter awe.

Haechan hummed and looked down at his best friend with a fond smile.

‘Yup. The most our scents did to each other was comfort us. When I keep repeating to people how unique we both are, I mean it for more than one reason.’ he confessed, chuckling when Jaemin’s nose scrunched up.

‘Yeah; You guys are really unique.’ Haechan looked up with surprise in his eyes. The way Mark had said it… it was almost as if he was proud. Mark smiled down at him, his scent closer than ever, and Haechan felt warmth spread through his body, but not because of heat.

‘Hi~’ A melodious voice was heard and both Mark and Haechan turned their head over the door, where Renjun was standing, waving at the two happily. Haechan grinned at him – he had missed his friend – and watched as he looked in surprise at Jaemin’s sleeping form but then he was stepping in and climbing on the bed to hug Haechan.

‘How are you feeling twat? I’ve missed you so much.’ he hugged him tighter as Haechan protested and hit his shoulders but hugged him back just as tight.

‘Missed your old chinese ass too.’ he mumbled as he leaned back on the bed. With the ruckus, Jaemin began to stir awake and when his eyes fluttered open, the first thing they landed on was a Red Velvet’s poster.

‘The fuck am I doing in a fangirl’s room.’ he deadpanned.

Mark blushed and didn’t even try to justify himself, and did a punch motion when he saw Renjun’s smirk. Haechan chuckled, knowing full well this was going to be blackmail material and decided to tease Mark a bit more.

‘Jaem, sweetie, it’s not a fangirl room, it’s Mark’s room.’ he said in a falsely sweet tone, ignoring the utter look of betrayal coming from Mark, preferring to watch Jaemin’s face as he realized where he was. His best friend let out an ‘ah’ before he looked to the left…. and froze. Haechan followed his gaze and felt the urge to roll his eyes. Renjun was looking down at the beta with what could only be qualified as fondness in his eyes. Or utter adoration. Maybe both.

Haechan scoffed silently, and shook his head at Mark who looked confused. Well, he couldn’t blame the older. But Jaemin didn’t need this, he needed these two idiots to make a decision or to move on- oh.

‘Jaem.’ he suddenly called out smirking, making him break the eye contact with idiot n°2, ‘It’s late, didn’t you have something to do?’

Renjun’s frown at the mention, and its deepening at Jaemin’s beaming made it all worth. Haechan madly wished for tea or popcorn at the moment.

‘Oh my god, yes!’ he squealed, scrambling up and putting back his hair in place, seemingly forgetting his feelings for the time being. ‘Shit, I can’t wait.’

Only then did Renjun seemed to notice Jaemin’s looks. And oh boy did Donghyuck looked smug when he saw the way Renjun’s eyes eat his friends up. And the blush that adorned his cheeks was so satisfying.

‘Wow you look great Nana.’ he smiled, blushing harder when Jaemin grinned at him.

‘Thanks! Hopefully I can impress Kai and his crew so that they’ll let us come in more often.’ he playfully winked at Donghyuck who raised his eyebrows suggestively.

‘Where?’ Both Mark and Renjun asked simultaneously, both frowning, one in confusion the other in disapproval.

‘To Kai’s favorite club. You know they don’t let anyone in unless you have connections.’ Haechan shrugged and turned to Jaemin with a wide smile. ‘And Jaem here just scored himself a date!’

‘A what?!’ ‘It’s not a date!’ Both Renjun and Jaemin said at the same time.

Jaemin looked down and rubbed his nape, suddenly looking remorseful in front of Renjun’s accusatory look. But that didn’t sit well with Haechan.

‘I- huh… it’s not like that, he is too old.’ he mumbled and Donghyuck resisted the urge to growl. Mark’s hand coming to rest on the inside of his thigh was the only thing calming him.

‘Yeah Kai already has a boyfriend anyways.’ Haechan provided. ‘But Jaemin’s still gonna enjoy his night and hopefully find someone who’ll make a move on him. And we all should be happy for him.’

The way he said it made Renjun shut up and look down, and Jaemin sent him a grateful smile and exited the room with promises to call and give them a full detailed summary of the evening.

The door shut close.

But the sudden sourness in the other omega’s scent made Donghyuck frown. What was wrong with Jeno and Renjun seriously? Renjun had just proven here and then that he was into Jaemin, and Jeno honestly looked the same. So why couldn’t they make a fucking move?

‘You know you’re gonna lose your chances if you keep waiting?’

Surprisingly it was Mark who spoke, hand now rubbing circles on Hyuck’s thigh. Donghyuck was seconds away from purring, but he refrained. Renjun clenched the sheets and suddenly he felt like he was gonna explode.

‘I- I… what if he doesn’t like us?’ Renjun whispered, looking up with pure fear in his eyes. An unfounded fear that yet Donghyuck understood.

Mark opened his mouth to speak, probably to tell him how much of an idiot he was to believe that, but Donghyuck hushed him. This was something Renjun and Jeno had to found out by themselves, they had to realize Jaemin’s genuine fears and feelings by themselves.

‘Renjunie.’ he called out. ‘You’re not an idiot, neither is Jeno. You just have to stop playing blind and… start taking decisions.’

Renjun stared at him, gaze unreadable, for a good minute. Then, he smiled.

‘Well it was nice seeing you, you seem to be fine.’ he smiled, fishing his phone out of his pocket and standing up, surprising the two other werewolves in the room. ‘ Jeno says hello by the way.’

Donghyuck blinked.

‘Hello to him… too?’ he said in confusion as Renjun brought his phone to his ear and waved. And with a bright smile, he walked out.

 

‘Jeno?’ they heard him call out in the corridor. ‘Get ready we have somewhere to go tonight.’

 

The front door shut and Haechan squealed, throwing himself at Mark.

 

– – – – – 

 

‘Sunshine, you hear me? Come on, it’s okay.’

Haechan heard him before he actually realized it was Mark. Pain shot through his body, and he curled into a ball. The sheets beneath him were drenched, he was sweating like never, his skin was literally burning, scorching hot. And the pain was just excruciating. Why… why was he feeling so much pain… Mark, where was he?

Alpha… he needed an alpha.

‘Sun.’

Haechan fluttered his eyes open – wet and blurry. He was met with the sight of a dark room and an extended hand.

Alpha.

‘That’s it. Eyes on me please.’

Haechan obeyed and let his eyes travel up the outstretched hand to the sharp features of the alpha- no, Mark. His eyes were glowing a deep red but his frown was slowly beginning to give way to a smile.

Haechan tried to ask him what was wrong and why he was in this state but the only thing that managed to leave his mouth were whimpers.

In other circumstances, he would have felt pathetic but right now he just wanted relieve, for this pain to go away. None of his heats were ever that bad.

‘That’s it. Now come to me please.’ he offered, slowly extending his hand further and Haechan realized that Mark wasn’t refusing to touch him.

It was he, himself that was shying away.

Instincts.

His instincts, that’s what took over him, he remembered now, hence why he had curled away during his sleep – he was feeling too hot to do skinship. And now the pain was back, and he was the one passing out and gaining back consciousness for a few times now. It was a blur, but he remember himself shying away from Mark each times and curling on himself because it was too much. He also remembered Mark trying to reach out.

Now, he was conscious enough to remember and rectify that.

‘Please.’ the deep voice reached his ears, and he looked at the parted lips in a daze, and felt a lump form in his throat. Even in the most dire situation Mark was waiting for his approval. Mark was an excellent alpha, Haechan could only dream of so much… How he wished that Mark would be like that for him and him only. Sadly, Mark was just doing what he would have done for any of his friends, Mark the oh so good alpha.

Haechan looked up, and bit his lip to prevent a whimper from coming out. Slowly inching his body forward, sheets sticking to his naked skin, he ignored the pain but whimpered at each inches he passed toward Mark.

The alpha frowned, as if in pain too, and suddenly, he leaned his head forward, eyes meeting those of Haechan and whimpered in response. Mark was calling for him.

Haechan froze and looked at the older in pure surprise, eyes shifting orange golden, and he felt the omega in himself cry out at the sound.

He lurched forward, throwing himself at Mark, who automatically shielded him in his arms.

They landed in a tangled mess on the floor, Mark’s back hit the drawer with a thud and he cradled Haechan in his arms, making sure to give him as much comfort as possible.

Instincts or more, the omega was glad for all the amount of physical contact the older was initiating to make him feel better. His skin was still scorching hot, his pain was still here, but it was slowly melting away.

Mark’s arms tightened around him and he growled slightly, which calmed Hyuck’s omega.

He really owed Mark one.

Lips brushed against his scalp.

‘I’m here. I’m here Hyuck.’

And through his daze, Haechan couldn’t help a foolish thought from reaching his consciousness.

If only you were mine.

 

– – – – – 

 

Haechan woke up to the wind seeping through his hair and bare back, the sound of cars rolling by the neighborhood and the smell of fresh grass and mint.

He felt exhausted. But calm.

Which was weird. He never felt like that during heat.

Blinking his eyes open, he watched through the window the tall pines’ needles swinging to the soft wind. Their neighborhood was on the city’s forest’s borders, and Mark’s room was facing it. He liked it, always had, and when their families used to eat together during friendly gatherings years ago, he remember being jealous of it. The thought made him smile. Silly kids they were.

He sighed in contentment, leaning against the softly moving pillow-

Moving … pillow?

Looking down, Haechan felt a blush spread on his face. Oh god. He was sleeping on Mark’s bare torso, the elder’s arm loosely wrapped around his lower back and the other softly carding through his hair. Meaning Mark was awake. Oh holy.

Mortification hitting him square in the face, he slowly looked up. Mark was watching outside, looking quite pensive. When he noticed the movement on his chest, he looked down and smiled at the younger.

‘Oh, you’re awake.’

Haechan rolled his eyes.

‘Hello to you too.”

Mark laughed, melodious and child-like. His laugh had always made him weak, and maybe it was one of the first thing he fell for.

‘Feeling better?’ he said it so softly, and the fondness mixed with worry made Haechan blush harder. Is that what Jaemin felt everytime Noren gave him mixed signals? Because it surely felt like that. Hopefully the elder would blame his blush on the heat.

Haechan opted to lay back over his cool bare torso, and sighed.

‘Yes. Thank you. I must have been insufferable yesterday.’ he grumbled and Mark hummed.

‘A real pest.’

Haechan slapped his torso hard. Mark growled, but no real bite was behind it so Haechan simply slumped harder against his chest.

‘You love me, don’t lie to yourself Markie poo.’ he exclaimed dramatically, and eyed the outside world. It felt serene.

‘You wish.’ the older muttered with a soft laugh. ‘Is it often like that? Heats?’

‘Yeah, it hurts like a bitch.’ he answered frankly. ‘But it never hurt so much before.’

‘Maybe it’s because you’ve stuck to an alpha for the past days.’ Mark suggested.

Haechan shuddered and groaned.

‘Oh god. That means there’s a chance my future heats will be bitches. Guess I’ll have to borrow Jeno then, sorry Injun~’ he joked, and Mark laughed and Haechan joined him. ‘Oh god, that’s disgusting. I can’t imagine that. Erase.’

Haechan massaged his temples, making faces. Mark was now clutching his ribs over Haechan’s form, legit squishing him against his torso. Haechan smiled. Mark was cute.

‘Say…’ Mark began after calming himself and loosening his hold on the younger. ‘When was your first heat?’

‘Oh my god, what the fuck Mark!’

Haechan rolled away in surprise and sat up, face and neck beet red. What kind of question was that? Heats were personal matters, not something you talk about with everyone, especially not an alpha. Well, usually omegas liked to talk about it with other omegas (because it feels good to bitch about it with people who understand), their omega relatives and their alphas. And everyone knew that.

‘What?’ Mark exclaimed with big eyes, not looking a bit bothered or embarrassed by the situation. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘What’s wro…’ Haechan scoffed and rolled his eyes, but Mark just kept looking at him like a lost puppy. Haechan sighed and then put on his best sweet and sarcastic smile on and leaned down, as if talking to a child. ‘Markie poo, you can’t ask omegas about heats~’

‘But I wanna know.’ he pouted. Mark Lee, fucking pouted.

‘Oh fuck off stupid alpha.’

 

 

– 

 

‘So…. You still won’t tell me?’

‘Mark. It’s five in the afternoon. Let me scroll on Insta in peace.’

‘Fine…’

 

‘Oh my god, you’re insufferable. Fourteen. Happy? Great. Now, fuck off, hug me and let me scroll in peace.’

 

– – – – – 

 

‘Hyuckie. Donghyuck-ah.’ A low voice whispered, a hand shaking his shoulder, the clinking of bracelets echoing in the silent room.

Haechan sniffed the air and fluttered his eyes open in confusion at the scent of mint and fresh grass. The room was still dark, the moon shining down the room. Traveling up the arm, he met Mark’s red eyes. Mark smiled and rubbed down the junction between his neck and jaw, Haechan leaning in the touch.

‘Hey.’ the older greeted him again, voice soft and warm to his ears.

Haechan only hummed, not realizing what was happening. Mark sighed and pulled him up by the arms. Haechan grunted but followed, letting himself be guided to sit on his knees and face to face with a standing Mark, covers sliding down his torso.

‘Mark?’ he questioned, frowning.

The alpha only cradled his face, a frown adorning his own. He looked concerned and in a dilemma.

‘Mark, what’s up?’ he asked now clearly worried and awake, putting his hand on Mark’s own. ‘Tell me, what’s going on?’

He didn’t like seeing Mark like that, and he hated it even more when he was the cause of his troubles. He didn’t want to bother the alpha.

‘Is it… is it the heat? Can you no longer take care of me?’ Mark’s scent soured and Haechan smiled. So he was right.

He willed his scent not to sour and caressed his hand comfortingly.

‘Mark, that’s okay, you’ve done so much so far. I understand and I’ll ask Doyoung to come pick me up as soon as possible-’

However, he was interrupted by Mark’s gasp and horrified face.

‘No, Hyuck! I mean you can stay, of course I want you to stay- I mean I, huh, I-’ he breathed in and calmed himself. ‘I can still take care of you, if you still want me of course.’

Okay, now Haechan was confused.

‘Yes, of course I still want you to help me but I thought you couldn’t… anymore...’

Haechan blushed when Mark shook his head softly and rubbed his thumb against his jaw, looking down at him… affectionately?

Haechan blinked. Surely, he was seeing wrong. Yeah, he was tired, there was no way.

‘But your scent...’ he trailed of his explanation when Mark chuckled.

‘It soured because you mention me not being able to take care of you. Which is kinda why I woke you up.’ he provided, stopping him with a gentle glare when he tried to open his mouth. ‘Tonight’s the full moon.’

Oh.

That explained a lot.

Alphas have no choice but to go out during full moons – well, they can stay at home but that wouldn’t benefit them – because the aster made them stronger. During full moons, a surge of power courses through every wolves – it’s the strongest on alphas – making them stronger, enhancing their sight and hearing, and, most of all, it strengthened the pack bond. That’s why Mark had to absolutely go. He couldn’t leave his pack alone, it was important. Heck, Haechan’s heat was nothing in comparison, he didn’t even understand why the older was in conflict in the first place.

Haechan leaned back on his calves and nodded, grinning and forcing the older to let go of his face.

‘You go then.’ he stated, yawning and throwing his arms in the air, popping his joints.

Mark, still the constipated boy he was, looked about to protest but Donghyuck gave him an amused glare.

‘You can’t even be thinking of staying here Markie poo?’ he said, giving him his best unimpressed look. ‘I’ll survive for one night. C’mon, stop playing the benevolent alpha and know your priorities. Aren’t you the head alpha?’

Mark immediately shut up at that but his scent still soured and Haechan softened. His brow creased and his lips formed into a pout out of habit, the one when he was not happy with something, and suddenly he looked like the cute little Mark of his childhood once more, the one that stuck blueberries in a stick for him because he kept getting blue juice on his hands and ended up wiping them on his jeans – to the older’s utmost horror – the one who used to play soccer with him and, being a klutz, fell on the ground everytime and fought Haechan off when he jumped on him, the one who was always calm and shy but didn’t hesitate one second to yell at his sister when she stole his last lollipop – ending up coaxing his parents to buy a whole bunch of lollis just so that he’ll always have some to give to the younger. 

And in a moment of utter weakness, he went forward, reaching out, and pressed a thumb on the crease, easing the older’s frown away.

‘Go.’

His whisper hit the older’s skin and his breath hitched when Mark wind up an arm around his waist and leaned forward, eyes closing instantly as their foreheads made contact. Haechan followed the move, eyelids dropping and hand moving down toward his jaw, which he cupped. Mark’s jaw tensed under the touch, and he let out a shaky breath. Then his head leaned into his touch and suddenly Haechan couldn’t breath. Mark was relishing into his touch, an alpha was letting himself seen weak in his presence – so much trust. Haechan felt his throat tighten and his eyes prickle.

‘You’ve done so much Mark…’ he gasped out, suddenly overwhelmed. ‘Go where you belong.’

It physically pained him to say that, it really did. But Haechan knew what was right and he wasn’t about to oppose.

Mark gulped and slowly moved away, detaching himself and slowly opening his eyes. They were bright red. Haechan averted his gaze, still too overwhelmed.

‘Okay.’

Simple but efficient, and with that Haechan could breath again and he fell back on his calves, nodding.

‘Yeah, okay.’ he agreed, slumping back into the covers and turning his back to the older because hello, what the fuck just happened?! ‘Now, go do your puppy rounds and let me finish my night-’

His rant was interrupted by a thing being thrown on him. Looking up with disdain, he was suddenly overwhelmed with (well, that was a lot of overwhelming for a night) mint and fresh grass.

Mark’s hoodie. That was Mark’s hoodie.

Picking up the outfit between his pinkie and index finger, he looked at Mark in mid horror and confusion.

‘What the fuck is that thing.’

Mark rolled his eyes but smiled and crossed his arms on his bare chest – bare what?! Oh sweet jisoos preserve his poor heart…

‘A hoodie obviously.’

‘No shit Markie.’ Now it was Haechan’s turn to roll his eyes. ‘It’s atrocious.’

Mark snorted at his declaration and walked toward the door.

‘Whatever. I didn’t see you complaining earlier when you were cuddling me.’

‘You were wearing this thing?’ Haechan exclaimed in mocked surprise.

‘The whole day.’

‘Okay. I’ll accept its comfort and softness properties. But it’s still atrocious.’

‘Oh c’mon it’s a plain black hoodie. Just shrug it on, it will help. Hopefully.’ Mark grunted, banging his head against the door, before opening it.

‘Shut up dickhead.’ the younger retaliated, but obeyed.

‘You wish fucktard.’

 

The door shut and the younger growled at it but laughed when he heard Mark giggling outside. Once the older exited the house, Haechan sighed and curled into the covers.

Once settled, he brought the collar of the hoodie to his face and sniffed. Looking up at the moonlight, he slumped against the mattress and hugged himself, letting a smile spread on his face.

‘I like me better when I’m with you.’

 

– – – – – 

 

Wind blew into the room and sent chills straight down Hyuck’s sleepy form. It was too chilly for a summer morning.

Grunting, he made to hug the covers closer, but arms wrapped around his middle and he was pulled toward a warm body- oh my, wait what?

Haechan snapped his eyes open and turned over. Only to come face to face with a broad chest.

Oh, right.

Looking up, eyes half open, he raised a hand in greeting and yawned loudly.

‘Oh, what a beautiful sight; Say hi for the camera please~’ the older taunt, holding his phone close to his face.

Haechan only hid his face and flipped him the bird.

‘Get that shit away from me.’ the younger growled, insulting Mark in his head. On a second thought, why not say it outloud. ‘You’re a real pain in the ass, dickhead. I don’t know why I put up with so much of your shit honestly.’

Mark smirked.

‘You weren’t saying that yesterday.’

Haechan slapped the phone away and threw it out the window.

 

‘…What the fuck Hyuck.’

 

–

 

‘I’m really sorry Markie poo. I really didn’t mean to throw it.’ he smiled sheepishly, now freshly showered and sitting on the bed in Mark’s clothes. The alpha looked up from the ground, fed up with him, but one look at the younger and he rolled his eyes, unable to resist.

‘Whatever Hyuck. I guess I fueled it a bit.’ he gritted out, trying to revive his precious phone, and screaming in delight when the now cracked protection glass screen lit up.

Haechan made a silent prayer, thanking the gods above because today was not the day when his ass will roast.

‘I’ll pay you another protection screen.’ he promised when the elder stood up, their eyes meeting as soon as the alpha was done typing his password, the later smiling down at him.

‘Don’t sweat it. It’s a protection screen, it was meant to be broken.’ he chuckled, eyes darting back on his phone to ensure everything was fine, Haechan silently dancing because his bank account was going to stay full for now.

Then, Mark suddenly took a sniff.

‘Hyuck…’ he called out, the younger stopping his celebratory dance to look up at him.

‘What, Do you need me to pay for something?’ he asked, dread painting his features. Maybe he spoke to soon, and his bank account will have to be on diet for a while.

‘No, no.’ Mark shook his head frowning and took a sniff again. ‘It’s just… your scent. It got much sweeter.’

‘Must be because I’m happy.’ he provided, smiling and shrugging. ‘I mean my heat is over and I don’t have to pay for your fees, so-’ 

‘No. It was already like that when I came back earlier. Actually, it got sweeter because you’re happy, but it’s still overall… sweeter than before.’

Haechan blinked. And paled. And flushed.

‘Tell me this is a fucking joke.’ he mumbled, staring at the wall, frozen.

‘What? What does it mean?’ Mark asked worried, and Haechan almost wanted to hug the poor boy for he was genuinely worried something wrong was happening. But the realization of what it really was made Hyuck hid his face into his hands.

‘Oh god, you gotta be kidding me.’

‘Hyuck, tell me.’ Mark asked, not ordered, but his omega’s side newfound changes made it so that he whimpered and give him puppy eyes.

‘Please don’t make me say it.’ he asked, groaning at how embarrassing that was. When it happened with Jaemin, Jeno, Renjun and his close family it was always a pain in the ass the first times, but then he gained control over it and now everything is good. But still, right now it was embarrassing, because this is Mark.

And then, bless the one brain cell still working in Mark, his eyes lit up and he began grinning like an idiot.

‘Oh god, you’re kidding.’ he stated excitedly, and yelped in happiness when Haechan shook his head. ‘Oh my god, your omega submitted to my alpha!’ he cried out happily and Haechan raised his eyes from his hands, clearly judging him when he slumped against the carpet and wiggled his legs like a newborn.

‘What the actual fuck Minhyung.’ he deadpanned, glaring at the older boy as if he had gone mental. ‘And I’m the fucktard.’

He shook his head but Mark suddenly calmed down and sat up in front of him. Haechan glared at him, but his eyes held curiosity.

‘You called me Minhyung.’ he said softly, bed hair falling over his eyes as he smiled, bright and light. And he genuinely looked like an angel. And Haechan wished he could kiss this stupid grin off his face right in this instant.

Oh boy, was he fucked.

 

– 

 

‘Say Mark.’ Haechan asked later when they were changing the sheets. Mark looked up, raising a brow as he settled the covers over the bed.

‘I never thanked you properly for taking care of me during this week. So, thank you.’ he lamely said, nodding to himself.

Mark chuckled and nodded.

‘You don’t have to. I offered and truly it was fun, getting to know the ‘soft’ Hyuck, like back when we were kids.’

Haechan chuckled and wiggled his eyebrows teasingly.

‘Well, what can I say; It’s not everyday that I grace mankind with my beautiful real bare self; Feel honored mere human.’

‘Oh, I feel blessed, your fucktard majesty.’ Mark snorted, bowing and shrieking when a pillow hit his skull.

‘Shut up and fold the sheets, human.’ the omega laughed, clearly tired and amused by his friend’s antics.

They continued making the bed for a few more minutes in a comfortable silence, until this time the older broke it.

‘Say Hyuck.’ he called out, the younger stopping to listen. ‘If… if I asked you to bare your neck, would you?’

Mark looked unsure and almost ashamed of asking that as he refused to meet his gaze, focusing instead on smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles on the cover.

Haechan was staring in disbelief. He knew the older was probably expecting a refusal, after all he had always been the one omega to constantly refuse submitting or showing signs of obedience. But what people tended to forget was that all these things that made one submit, trust, respect, like, all of that, it was meant to be earned. And while many took it for granted and therefore didn’t deserve it, Mark earned it. He earned all of it.

So Haechan only dropped the sheets, startling Mark, and when the older looked up, Haechan had his head angled to the side, neck bared.

Mark let the sheets fall out of his hands and gasped, bringing a hand to his mouth.

Haechan side eyed him and chuckled.

‘What?’ he asked, bringing his neck back in place and trying to fight his blush away. ‘You earned it, don’t look so surprised.’

Mark looked like a kid before a Christmas tree and opened his mouth, seemingly to ask for more but Haechan sent him a glare.

‘Don’t abuse of it dickhead.’ he warned, smiling internally at Mark’s kicked puppy face. He nodded dejectedly and Haechan resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. He was weak for Mark, yes, but he really needed to work on his resistance.

‘What is it.’ he said more than asked, sighing as Mark’s eyes lit up again; The boy fiddled with the sheets again and rubbed his nape.

‘Can I… can I growl?’ 

Haechan facepalmed and flushed beet red. Alphas and their fucking pride and ego.

‘Oh god, it’s not like you never growled someone into submission.’ he grumbled, blushing harder when Mark chuckled – the kind of ‘oh boy, if you knew’ chuckle – and started to fold the cover angrily.

No. There was no way he would let Mark do it. He was strong, he could say no.

But one look at Mark’s eager eyes, oddly reminding him of Jaemin’s when he wants something, and he was sold.

‘Do it.’ he mumbled, crying internally, and Mark gaped at him. ‘Hurry, before I change my mind dickhead.’ he snapped, looking away as he blushed from embarrassment.

Mark shakily made his way to the other side of the bed and stopped in front of the younger. He was so surprised that Hyuck agreed so easily, he felt like he was overstepping the younger’s boundaries.

But one look at Haechan’s small smile and he smiled too, and growled.

Haechan automatically whined and bared his neck, complying to the growl.

Mark felt the alpha in him swell in pride and Haechan blushed and crossed his arms because as much as it didn’t bother him on the principle, it was still new and still pretty embarrassing.

‘Okay, enough dickhead, don’t grow a boner on that.’ he teased, huffing and ducking when Mark blushed and tried to hit him.

‘I’m not- oh god just shut up!’ he whined, this time hitting Haechan on the arm. The younger whined and shoved him aside, smile teasing and taunting as he hugged the bed pol dramatically.

‘Oh benevolent saint of all alphas Markie poo, you can’t fool even the purest souls, we all know you get boners too-’

Mark growled.

Haechan flushed.

But retaliate.

‘So, do you get boners as often as I get heats?’

 

If Mark’s family heard yelps, screams and pleas as well as furniture crashing this afternoon, they said nothing.

 

– – – – – 

 

Haechan pulled on his backpack strap, and entered the library, sad to be back. One of the rare perk of being in heat was that it gave you a free pass to escape school. Alas it only lasts ten days to the most.

‘What’s with the sour mood, hoe?’ Jaemin greeted as he offered him a can of Strike.

‘I’m back. And it sucks.’ He declared, slumping onto his chair, gladly accepting the drink.

‘Poor you.’ He said lamely and then eyed the lunch menu with a smirk. ‘At least you’ll get the last choco dough, as always.’

Haechan smirked back, knowing full well what it meant; pissing off Mark later~.

Suddenly Nana frowned and sniffed the air.

‘Dude, did you shower?’ he asked with a scowl and Haechan paled.

‘What? Is it still on?!’ he panicked, knowing what his best friend probably smelled.

‘Still on? Hyuck, you reek of Mark’s scent. I can barely smell you at all.’ Nana gasped in surprise, overwhelmed with the smell of mint and fresh grass.

‘Shit. But I took five showers to scrub it off.’ he wailed, literally laying his upper half on the table.

‘Take a bath in bleach then.’ he deadpanned, Hyuck flipping him the bird. ‘But that was to expect, I mean you spent seven days with him nonstop.’

Haechan banged his head on the table, regretting coming to school today. He hoped no one would take a sniff and notice he was wearing Mark’s scent, they would probably get the wrong idea, and that was everything but what Haechan wanted for Mark. Mark needed to stay rumors-free.

Suddenly, Nana’s mood sour and he looked nastily behind him.

Haechan sat up in wonder and turned around, only to see Jeno and Renjun coming their way, the later looking somewhat uncomfortable and Jeno looking like... well, looking like Jeno.

Okay now that was weird.

‘Sup?’ The alpha asked as he and Renjun sat down. ‘Nice to see you again Haechanie.’

‘Yeah, I’m good...’ he answered suspiciously as he watched Jaemin turn away from the two as much as possible. Jeno frowned at that and pulled his book over, closer to them. Nana turned toward him exasperatedly and grabbed his book back.

‘Nana.’ Jeno called but Jaemin just put a hand up.

‘Don’t.’ he said, breathing through his nostrils and as he angrily munched on his pockies. Haechan leaned back in his chair curiously. What in the world was going on?

‘Are you still angry at me?’ Jeno asked, a look of disbelief on his features, and only now did Haechan noticed Renjun trying to pull back his mate, looking uncomfortable.

Nana scoffed and stared at Jeno in disbelief, throwing his book on the table.

‘Angry? Angry?! I’m fucking seething Lee Jeno.’ he gritted out and Jeno frowned, which was are sight – Haechan knew in this moment that it must have been serious.

 

‘You’re being ridiculous Nana.’ he simply said back and Renjun facepalmed.

‘Me? Ridicu-’ he scoffed, rolling his eyes in disbelief. ‘Yeah, fine whatever. And don’t call me Nana anymore, you’ve lost this right last night with every little bits of respect I had left for you.’

Jeno looked livid and ready to snap but Renjun intervened before he could.

‘Na- Jaemin, he didn’t-’ he began but one glare from Jaemin, which was more tempered than the ones he threw at Jeno, and he shut up, looking down in guilt.

‘Don’t Injun. You’re as responsible as he is.’ Nana declared.

‘No he isn’t.’ Jeno defended, sliding an arm protectively around Renjun’s shoulder and Renjun, to Haechan’s surprise – didn’t lean in the touch, but shoved him off and slumped forward, grunting.

‘Yes he is.’ Nana snarled at the alpha. ‘Who else but Hyuck and Mark knew about my whereabouts? Yeah, that’s right. Him.’

That efficiently shut Jeno up.

‘God.’ he threw his glasses on the table and put his head in his hands. ‘If I’d knew it was going to end up like that I would have never said anything.’

‘Okay.’ Haechan interrupted. ‘Is it the moment where I leave you all to your explanations or are you guys gonna tell me what’s going on?’

Jaemin sighed and nodded.

‘I was gonna tell you anyways. You knew how yesterday I went to the club and all? Yeah, so all was going well and I met this cute guy.’

Haechan had a feeling of where this was going.

‘Yeah real good-’ Jeno snarled angrily, and Renjun snapped and told him to shut up.

‘As I was saying, I met a cute guy called Minho and yeah we kinda hooked up.’ he blushed but then moaned in despair, completely obvious to the evident hurt on Renjun’s features and the scowl on Jeno’s ones.

‘And?’ Haechan asked mid excited, mid worried.

‘And we were dancing and the dude started kissing my neck when these two showed up and pulled me away, completely ruining my chances with Minho!’ he exploded, gripping his hair angrily and Haechan starred at the three in horror. Oh no.

Jeno slapped his hands on the table.

‘He wasn’t serious, it was a hook up for him! We were just being good friends by protecting you.’

Oh god. They didn’t even confess when they pulled him away. No wonder Jaemin got so riled up. Haechan resisted the urge to facepalm and stared at Renjun in disappointment, the later only shying away from his eyes and gesturing to his phone.

Haechan nodded and refocused to the conflict at hand when Nana turned to the alpha angrily, and threw him his box of pocky.

‘And so what if it was? What if I wanted a hook up!’ he exclaimed, finally breaking and done with Noren’s bullshit. He gritted his teeth, eyes full of anger, and pointed Jeno. ‘And how would you know if he was being serious?! No one asked you to be an overprotective friend. No one. You ruined one of the only chance I had to be happy!’

Tears were brimming in his eyes and venom was coming out of his mouth with each sentences. Jeno seeing his state, closed his mouth and his shoulder deflated, a look of realization crossing his face. But it was too late, Jaemin was breaking down. Haechan felt his heart sunk.

‘Not everyone has the chance to find love so easily.’ he spat out with a broken voice, venom more acid than ever, and the ‘like you’ that was clearly implied was just as clearly heard by everyone at the table.

‘Nana...’ Jeno called out, looking like he finally realized his stupidity but Nana shook his head.

‘No shut up. Don’t bother Jeno…’ the beta trailed off, looking down.

At last, Jeno had the decency to look down and his scent soured considerably. Now, he looked really remorseful and defeated but Jaemin obviously wouldn’t give a fuck anymore, seeing he went back to eating his pockies angrily, wiping his wet cheeks with the back of his free hand. Haechan scooted closer and wrapped an arm around his shoulder and Jaemin leaned in shakily.

A ping made it’s way to his ears and he checked his phone. It was a message from Renjun.

 

*Chinjunie~*

Yesterday we went to this pub and saw Jaem dance with this guy, touching and stuffs. yk how we both feel so I won’t pretend we were ok. 

So when Jeno marched toward him I thought that that was it, we were gonna settle things tonight. 

And when Jaemin looked at us after we pulled him awy I knew he <3 us. 

But Jeno was insecure and the only thing he said was ‘this guy is a perv’! -.- 

They fght for 10min and said bullshit (mstly Jeno) & Nana snapped and ran off T.T 

Jeno is an idiot. Alphas are dumb.

So I told him Nana <3 us, and he was supposed to apologies and confess 2day. but Jeno’s 1 braincell fcked up again.

Jaeno are idiots. km now.

 

Haechan looked up in horror at Jeno being comforted by Renjun and when their eyes met he mouthed a ‘what the fuck’, to which Renjun only shook his head, looking helpless.

Did he say that Noren were idiots? Screw that, Jeno is an idiot.

Today was gonna be a long day.

 

– – – – – 

 

‘Haechan?’ A voice he knew called out and he looked up, from his tray. This morning was awful, his three friends ignoring each others and creating tension for the dumbest shit in the world – to say that Hyuck was annoyed was an understatement. These morons made his day even more awful than it already was.

Thank god, now that it was lunch, they seemed a bit more civil – the power of food – and Haechan couldn’t wait for the one ray of sunshine illuminating his day (read: annoying Mark Lee with the choco filled dough) to appear. Hence his surprise when he smelled caramel and apple approach his table.

‘What the- Lucas?’ he exclaimed in surprise, the alpha beaming when the omega remembered his name. Jaemin perked up at the name, suddenly wary of the older boy talking to them. He didn’t want his best friend in troubles.

Lucas squirmed on the spot and rubbed both of his hands anxiously under Nana’s glare and Haechan’s curious looks.

‘I… I know we aren’t on the best terms and you probably didn’t forgive me but-’

His rant was interrupted by Haechan’s smirk and shake of the head. The younger snickered at Lucas’ incredulous face. He looked like a giant constipated cub.

‘Lucas, I’ve encountered many assholes in my life, but you’re the first one who realized his mistakes and tried to be better man. So of course I won’t hate you.’ he laughed at Lucas’ bright puppy face at his words.

‘Then can we try to be friends?’ he asked excitedly, and Haechan shook his head in amusement and pulled the chair over.

‘Why not try, as you tell me what’s bringing you here?’ he offered and Lucas sat happily, glancing around the table.

‘Hi! I’m Lucas but you can call me Xuxi or Yukhei!’ he introduced himself eagerly, the beta and the omega in front of him offering him amused smiles while Jeno chuckled – bless Lucas, the previous bad mood was over for now!

‘Hi, Lucas. I didn’t know you knew Hyuck?’ Jeno asked, curious, as he leaned over the table to high five the other.

‘Jeno, my man, sup? Yeah I was being a stupid alpha a while ago but Hyuck showed me the way! Now I can be a better man!’ he proclaimed and Jaemin looked at Haechan with wide eyes, clearly having difficulties to refrain from grinning.

Haechan shook his head and snorted, muttering a ‘I’m a boss’ under his breath.

‘Yeah, yeah. So what brings you here?’ he asked instead and Xuxi suddenly squirmed and… blushed? Okay, what the fuck was going on.

‘I need advice.’ he declared, voice high and cracking at the end. 

Renjun stopped drinking and raised a brow, skeptical. 

‘And so, you came to Hyuck for that?’

‘Hey!’ Haechan exclaimed, offended, throwing one of Jaemin’s fry at him.

‘Well… he is an omega, so he is the best person to give me advice on my… issue.’ he confessed, grinning sheepishly and looking at Haechan with stars in his eyes.

‘Well, I’m an omega too, so spit.’ the Chinese male declared, nodding at the older to go on as he sipped his tea.

‘How do you court an omega properly?’ he blurted out dumbly.

Haechan snorted, loud and ungracious, Jaemin choked on his fries, Jeno stared at Lucas as if he’d grown two heads, forks frozen mid way, and Renjun promptly sent his tea flying all over the table as he coughed his lungs out.

‘The fuck man-’ Jeno asked in disbelief as he patted his mate’s back. ‘-do you mean by that?’

Lucas ducked his head in embarrassment.

‘I just know this cute sunbae and I don’t know how to tell him I like him. But I wanna do it properly, and not come off as a total jackass.’ he confessed, grumbling into his hands dramatically on how life was unfair. Haechan chuckled and patted him on the back.

‘Trust me Lucas, just be yourself – minus the forcing thing part – and you’ll have him under your spell.’ Haechan advised, chuckling and smiling at the older who smiled back hopefully.

‘You think so?’

‘I know so. I mean, you’re a hot dork-’ Jaemin chocked on his fires yet again and Haechan only patted his back. ‘ add in your weird but cute personality when you’re not a jackass and anyone would fall for that, let’s be real here.’

Haechan shrugged at his friends’ bewildered looks and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

Lucas just starred blankly in front of him.

‘Oh. You’re right.’ he let out and Haechan snorted, but nodded. ‘I think I’ll just invite him over-’

‘Wait what?’ Jeno exclaimed, unwillingly making an eye contact with Jaemin and lowering his gaze right away, slight blush on his cheeks.

‘- Jungwoo hyung! Over here.’ the older waved frantically and the said boy waved back with a soft smile from his spot in front of the dessert section.

Renjun let the straw fall from his lips.

‘Wait. You’re talking about Jungwoo hyung?’ he asked in disbelief, watching the older approach their table.

‘Yeah we are friends.’ the alpha said like it was obvious as he kept his focus- sorry, puppy eyes on Jungwoo, who had a slight pink adorning his cheeks.

Haechan looked at both his seniors and laughed, patting Lucas’ back.

‘Yeah, don’t worry just be yourself. It will work wonders.’

He snorted again in amusement and they all greeted Jungwoo properly. The meal went on in a happy mood, the issue from earlier now completely put aside in order for them to get to know each other better, when suddenly the cafeteria’s double door opened again and mint and fresh grass hit the sun kissed omega’s nostrils right away.

Refraining from turning around, he waited patiently, smiling when he heard the childish whines of his favorite alpha when he saw that none of his favorite pastries were left, and when he came closer to their table, Haechan held the chocolate dough up and moaned in pleasure loudly.

‘Oh my god, this dough is sooooo good.’ he began, his three old friends not giving a fuck about his usual demeanor and keeping their focus on their meals, but Jungwoo and Lucas throwing him curious glances.

He turned a bit and smirked at Mark who was walking not too far away with his two youngest pack members. The older boy was clearly struggling to hide a smile.

‘Too bad it was the last one~’ he taunted as he bite into the dough.

Mark rolled his eyes, and Jisung and Chenle walked past him with amused looks.

‘Shut up fucktard.’ he said, as always, this time laughing and shaking his head as he kept on walking to the pack’s usual table.

‘Don’t worry, Markie poo. I’m sure that one day you’ll get to taste it. Just be quicker next time~’ he singsonged and winked, the older setting down his tray on his table with a face that said ‘really now?’. Jisung and Chenle only cackled loudly and eat.

Haechan turned his back to him to sit back in his chair properly, and giggled as he brought the dough his lips. Mark was cute when he was upset; then again, when did he ever find Mark not cute?

Chuckling, he meant to bite down the dough when suddenly a shadow loomed over him. Forgetting it, he looked up, head raising all the way, only to see Mark’s neck and jaw.

Huh?

The older boy leaned back after a second and looked down at him, lips now coated with sugar. Licking them, he smirked and ruffled the hair of a dumbfounded Hyuck.

‘Quick enough for you?’ he taunted, voice low and breath hitting Haechan’s face and suddenly the younger boy flushed red at their proximity, and lowered his head to look at his dough.

Half of it was bitten.

Lee Motherfucking Minhyung.

He stared at it in disbelief, ignoring his friends’ smirking and amused faces at the sight of the sputtering mess called Lee Stupid Bitch Donghyuck.

‘See y’all later.’ Mark called as he leaned back and nodded at the other guys, walking back to his table.

Haechan blinked as his scent dimmed and broke out of his trance.

‘Oh hell nah.’ he whispered, smacking the dough down his plate and raising from his chair.

Running toward Mark, he jumped on his back, and the two of them lurched forward.

‘Yah! Minhyung Lee spit!’ he yelled, trying to bite his ear, surprising the older who huffed and tried to get him off.

‘What the fuck Donghyuck?!’ he exclaimed with wide eyes, slapping his thighs when the younger put pressure on his stomach to make him spit.

‘Spiiiiiiiiiiit!’ Hyuck whined as Mark huffed, secretly proud of himself for getting back at him so well.

‘Hae- stop, I swear I’m gonna throw up on your shoes if you don’t.’ he threatened and Haechan froze, immediately unwrapping his legs from his middle.

Letting go, he stumbled back with a scowl and waved his hands in front of himself in defeat.

‘Keep it, I’m cool.’ he conceded, taking a few cautious steps backward and grimacing at the thought of Mark emptying his stomach’s content. Mark, however, turned around with a smirk and quickly gripped his forearms to prevent him from retreating further. Haechan paled. He was in so much shit.

‘Oh really? But you seemed so eager earlier.’ the alpha said with an overly sweet voice and pulled Haechan closer to him. The younger whined and tried to shake his arms for Mark to let go.

‘Ah hyungie~’ he whined, trying to pout cutely but Mark simply laughed and raised a brow.

‘Ah, so now I’m hyung? And stop that, you look like Shrek.’ he taunted and Donghyuck threw him his best bitch face. However, Mark just smirked and pulled him forward again, and Haechan screamed a big ‘no’ as he whined in fake horror like the brat he was.

But the playful smile on his lips betrayed it all.

As Mark tugged him forward and their chests collided, Haechan bared his teeth and Mark growled, breath hitting his lips and resulting in the younger to flush and bring his hands to his neck to hold it in place.

‘Mark, that’s not fair!’ he accused, whining and punching his chest. But Mark only smirked and growled again.

‘A problem here?’ A voice suddenly interrupted, both boys turning to face its source.

Mark smelled rose, patchouli and firewood – their wolf history teacher, alpha Park. Instinctively, he brought Haechan closer, arm winding up around his waist as they both grinned sheepishly at the adult.

Haechan had troubles breathing at the sudden gesture; What was Mark doing? But he choose to not let it get into his heads, it was probably due to instincts. Well, might as well enjoy it while he can.

‘Nothing sir~ We are just having fun, aren’t we Markie poo?’ he finally teased, hugging the older’s waist and leeching to his side.

‘Y-yeah.’ Mark stuttered, blushing a bit at being called ‘Markie poo’ in front of another alpha.

The teacher simply raised a brow and sighed, turning around and walking away, muttering something along the lines of ‘kids these days’.

Mark sighed in relief and turned to face Haechan.

‘You’re seriously a nuisance, do you know-’ his complain was interrupted by the omega suddenly squeezing his stomach with his two arms.

Haechan grinned.

‘Spit dickhead.’

‘Haechan!’ Mark growled, trying to unwrap the younger’s arms from around himself, both remaining oblivious to the attention they were getting for the rest of the period.

 

– 

 

‘Do they know everyone is watching them?’ Jungwoo asked, sipping on his smoothie and enjoying the show just as much.

‘Yup.’ Haechan’s friends answered in chorus, the three of them not even watching it.

‘And they don’t care?’ he wondered in surprise, as he looked at Mark finally freeing himself and catching Hyuck in a headlock.

‘Nah.’

‘Are they mates?’ Lucas asked out of the blue, eyes wide and expectant.

Renjun laughed out loud, Jeno snorted and Jaemin only looked done with his life at the moment.

‘What? Are they?’ he asked again when he got no other answer, and Jaemin finally reached over to ruffle his hair, eyes still focused on his phone.

‘Just eat Xuxi, just eat.’

 

And with that, the rest of the lunch went on.

But with that, a new chapter in all of their lives finally opened, white and plain but ready to be filled with memories.

Ready to give them a chance at being happy.

 

– – – – –


	2. Of Flowers, Bites and Summer Rain...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ Yes, after all this time, I am finally back with the last and final chapter of this series' first part ahaha. I just couldn't bring myself to post it, I kept modifying everything everyday after I came back from my vacation because I was so inspired! And can I just say how shocked and moved I am by all the hype and love the first chapter received? THANK YOU so much aha. It means the world to me. That's why I hope the second part will live up to it aha. When a first part is great it's always hard to do better or just as good, but I'm satisfied with it and hope you'll be too!
> 
> I really had fun writing it, so I hope you'll love it!
> 
> p.s: the song Hyuck 'named and created' is actually Lauv's I like me Better (which he didn't actually created or named in real life aha)
> 
> So without further ado, enjoy~
> 
> \-- (Cross-posted on Wattpad.)

‘When did you find out you were an alpha?’

Hyuck laid his head back against his forearms, the myosotis and heliotropes scattered around the clearing tickling his face. Closing his eyes when the warm and heavy wind brushed past them, he let the ray of sun warm his face. It would rain soon – summer rain, Mark’s favorite. Said boy looked up at the sky and pondered for an answer, absentmindedly counting the clouds.

When it was silent for too long, Haechan took a quick sniff and snorted, grinning.

‘I don’t need an essay on your childhood, you know? Stop thinking so hard and give me a simple answer dickhead.’ he tsked, sighing in content when Mark moved a bit to the left and allowed more sun his way. The alpha smiled at at that, and looked down at the ground, chuckling.

Playing with a blue heliotrope, he hummed in contemplation. ‘Quit messing with me Hyuck, you’re on my territory.’

‘Aw, too bad that I won’t then, Markie poo~’

‘Hyuck.’

The warning should have been threatening. It really should have, but the truth is it held no bark and Haechan knew it. So, he only blew him a flying kiss in return and Mark groaned helplessly.

‘I’d say… when I was seven?’ he finally answered, shrugging. However, a gasp was heard right after and he looked up, surprised to find Hyuck sitting up.

‘Seven? That’s so early.’ he stated in bewilderment, turning sideways to face the older boy. Since he lost contact with Mark around age five, he never really knew of what was going on in his life – only what he heard and saw from afar, but that’s all. At the time, he wasn’t really interested in Mark, so he never noticed…

Taking a closer look at the older, Haechan noted his frown and the way he toyed with his bracelets, clearly uncomfortable with the topic.

‘Yeah it was… I always kinda felt like a misfit because of this.’ he admitted, quickly glancing up at the younger to gauge his reaction. But Haechan only stared in surprise, eyes wide.

‘Are you… are you serious?’ he asked in bewilderment, slumping back down on the ground but angling his face so as to still see the older boy, blinking and nose scrunching up when a twig poked his eye. ‘Mark, everyone loves you. Why would you ever feel like that?’

He really didn’t understand. Mark had everything and everyone for himself, that really didn’t make any sense. Mark only sighed and his hand stilled over the flower.

‘But that’s because I’m an alpha Hyuck. People thought of me as someone exceptional because I was so young and already presented- as an alpha. Because of that, people think I’m supposed to be strong all the time, people expected me to be a pack leader, they expected a lot from me.’

He paused to catch his breath and Donghyuck tried to meet his gaze but the older only stared at the bluish purple ground in front him.

‘I had no friends at first, you know?’ he added in a mutter and Donghyuck opened his mouth to protest but Mark didn’t let him. ‘I mean, yeah, people hung out with me because I was cool, because I was the ‘young alpha’. It was all for the… for the appearances. I don’t blame them though, it’s what it always is when you’re a kid. But yeah, I was unique and lonely.’

Haechan’s mouth fell close. That actually… made sense. He couldn’t even argue with the older. He just… never thought of how lonely Mark must have been. In his memories he was always surrounded, so of course he thought he had it all. What a silly thought…

And hearing Mark say that he was unique and lonely was sad, but somehow he felt closer to him, somewhat almost connected.

‘Thank god these punks came along the way.’ the alpha added, referring to his pack, and Haechan laughed with him, head falling back into place. The sun burned his eyes but he let it be because he felt like it.

Mark quieted down after a while and Haechan picked up the sweetness in his scent. He quickly looked up at the older in wonder, only to find Mark’s eyes already on him.

 

‘I’m glad you came along too.’

 

Haechan wanted to snort. He really, madly, badly wanted to snort. But he couldn’t. All he could feel was the heat creeping up his face.

‘I-’ he let out at loss of words, eyes wide and looking at Mark helplessly while trying to tame his madly blushing cheeks.

Mark bit his lower lip and looked at his younger friend hopefully, fingers once more toying with the flowers. And Haechan madly wished he was Mark’s teeth at that moment.

Snapping out of it, he groaned and pressed a hand against his eyes, trying to roll away. ‘Can you not be so cheesy? Oh god, you’re giving me goosebumps.’

Mark only laughed, and Haechan yelped when arms closed around him, forcing him back into his initial position.

‘But you love it.’ Mark countered as he slightly hovered over him from his crouched position by his side. And he had the audacity to grin down slyly at him. And how much Haechan wanted to slap it away. Or maybe kiss it. Actually, both were fine.

But for now, he would settle with punching his torso.

‘You wish.’ he grimaced as Mark groaned in pain and clutched his chest.

Haechan laughed and fought his way out of the hold, proud of his achievement, but only rolled so far before the older playfully kicked his butt.

Haechan faked gasped and stopped rolling, landing on his torso while clutching his butt cheeks. Looking up at Mark, chin hooked onto the mud, he pouted and bared his teeth in fake anger.

‘Yah. How dare you. This is a private property and the proud babies of both me and years of squats, so hands off- or foot off in your case.’ he whined, frowning and patting his butt to sooth the ache of the kick. He would make a mental reminder to never let himself near Mark’s foot in the future, this dickhead really kicked hard.

‘Oh yeah,’ Mark asked grinning and amused, and crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Did you also named them? Coz, you know, they are your babies and all, so…’

Forget what he said earlier, there will be no kissing smug grins off his face, only slaps.

 

– 

 

‘Hey Le.’ Jisung nudged the blond wolf by his side. ‘Didn’t you hear that?’

Chenle knew without having to look up that his friend had a resting bitch face on, but chose to only tilt his head to the side in confusion as a whine came out of his mouth, for he hadn’t heard a thing. Jisung only sighed, pouting slightly in frustration, and allowed Chenle to nip at his fingers. ‘I think I heard Mark hyung scream-’

 

‘-slaughter you to death, you dickhead!!!’

 

‘Okay.’ Jisung clapped his hands. ‘Mark hyung is in good hands, let’s go!’ 

 

– – – – – 

 

‘I’m telling you that the answer is b, Hyuck. For fuck sake, I’m an alpha, I know these things better than you.’ Mark stated, throwing his hands at the notebook in front of him.

‘Oh, so, because you’re an alpha you know better?’ Hyuck retaliated, frowning and crossing his arms. Mark groaned.

‘Ah Hyuck!’ he whined, ‘C’mon, you know what I mean. I obviously know the answer because the question is about ruts and I have those, not because I’m better or whatever bullshit you’re on.’

At Mark’s fed up form and frown, Haechan broke his facade and chuckled, punching his shoulder playfully.

‘You’re too easy Mark.’ he simply said, and Mark grumbled something about Haechan usually being a sensitive bitch, but allowed him to lay his head on his shoulder nevertheless.

‘So, answer b…’ he muttered, nipping at his own pencil with his small fangs and using Mark’s one instead to correct his answer.

‘Don’t you have one?’ Mark commented, raising a brow in amusement. Haechan ignored him and peeked over at his answers instead, unknowingly letting the collar of his hoodie reveal his collarbones, unaware of Mark’s gaze on his birthmark or the small fond smile he had.

The alpha shook his head and looked back at his phone.

Suddenly, Donghyuck scoffed and looked up at him. Mark felt the movement and looked down, absentmindedly pushing Haechan’s round glasses up the bridge of his nose. Haechan cutely scrunched it up and swat his hand away, making him chuckle.

‘What is it?’ Mark then asked him in confusion, smiling awkwardly at his frown. Haechan scoffed once more and sat up, pulling at Mark’s hoodie strings and tightening them around his face.

 

Jeno choose this exact moment to enter the room. He stopped dead in his tracks.

 

‘You look like a human condom.’ he stated, pointing at his pack leader who of course ignored him, too preoccupied with a certain omega choking him. So, Jaemin just sighed and waved him over.

‘Hello.’ Jeno greeted, reluctantly offering the beta a small smile as he sat next to him.

‘Hey.’ Jaemin answered, smiling back, and for the first time in a week things were not uncomfortable between them. Maybe the distance Jaemin established in the past few days did them good… maybe they could start on new bases.

‘You know… I’m really sorry for my outburst the other day. I should have been a supportive friend and not an ass.’ Jeno admitted.

‘You were not an ass.’ Jaemin assured him, chuckling.

‘I was.’ he insisted pointing at Jaemin and said boy raised his hands in surrender, admitting he was right. Jeno bit his lips and looked down, not wanting to waste the chance that Jaemin was giving him. He worked on his alpha ego during the week and he wanted to prove his worth to the beta, and the first thing was to do was to apologize. So, looking up, he offered him his best eye smile.

Jaemin only chuckled and shook his head.

‘That’s okay Jen, I overreacted as well. I guess I’m sorry too.’ he sighed dramatically and offered his hand with a bright smile. ‘Friends?’

Jeno blinked in surprise, and at Jaemin’s bright grin that almost rivaled with the bright sun behind them, he realized that, yeah, maybe they could work things out.

He took the hand with a smirk.

‘We’ll see about that.’

Jaemin groaned and elbowed him playfully, but grinned. ‘Oh c’mon, I apologized man! Don’t be a dick, that doesn’t suit you.’

Jeno blinked and let out a laugh when he realized Jaemin misunderstood his statement. And maybe for now he should let him believe that – no, not because he was a dick, but because he needed Injun on the matter.

So, he offered him his precious eye smile once more and leaned against the table.

‘Yeah, you’re right, that’s Hyuck’s role not mine.’ he declared.

Jaemin’s laugh erupted in the whole classroom, catching everyone’s attention, even the ones of their idiot friends.

 

Mark only shrugged, used to their weird behaviors, and Haechan raised a brow skeptically but eventually turned back to the older.

‘So, Markie poo, what the fuck did you write down question 7.’ he deadpanned through his fake grin – which was seriously more gritted teeth, if anything. Mark frowned and tried to make Haechan let go of his hoodie strings but when the younger refused to bulge he rolled his eyes and looked down at his paper.

‘Huuuh… that ‘heats appear around age sixteen’?’ he read, turning to Haechan in confusion.

The younger boy wanted to slap him.

‘So much for sharing personal stuffs…’ he mumbled, rolling his eyes and letting go of the strings with a last pull. He leaned back into his chair and crossed his legs, flapping his night blue sweater paws around. ‘And when did I get my first heat, again?’

‘At fourteen.’ he answered confidently with a grin.

Haechan blinked.

‘I honestly don’t know whether to feel moved you remembered it, sad you did and couldn’t even answer the question properly, or proud your one brain cell simply remembered something at all.’ he stated with a blank face, slowly clapping his hands.

Mark’s grin was quickly wiped off his face and he gaped, mouth opening and closing a few times.

‘Oh.’

Haechan snorted and rolled his eyes, turning into his seat to sit properly.

‘Yeah right, ‘Oh’. You dickhead…’ he muttered, shaking his head and Mark flicked his forehead.

‘Shut up fucktard.’ he chuckled as he grabbed his pen back from Haechan’s desk.

‘Yah! Quickly correct the answer before Mr. Park comes in.’ Haechan groaned with a pout, rubbing his sore forehead.

Mark stiffened at the mention and tongued the inside of his cheek, pencil clicking against his sheet and right foot tapping on the floor.

‘Say… why do you think Mr. Park is handsome?’

Haechan looked up from his phone with an astonished look.

‘Mark. It’s like me asking you why you think our school’s councilor is hot. Or asking the world why Natalie Portman is beautiful. The answer is obvious.’

‘Oh. Yeah. Makes sense.’ Mark nodded and went back to his answers. But suddenly, he looked up and pointed Hyuck of his pencil. ‘And, I don’t think the councilor is hot. That’s Lucas, not me.’

He turned back to his own desk and Haechan smirked.

‘Sure.’ he fake coughed and shook his head at the embarrassed older boy. Cute Mark.

‘Shut up.’ he growled, shoving Haechan playfully, but the younger boy only grabbed his arm and hugged it tight.

‘Aw, it’s okay Markie poo. You know, everyone has secret crushes on handsome and beautiful people at least once in their lifetimes~’ he revealed with a fake gasp and leaned in, pointing an alpha – a tall basketball player – in front of them. ‘Even him. I actually heard he has one on Mr. Park.’

Mark let out a laugh, high pitched and loud, and tried to mask it with a cough. But it was in vain since said alpha turned around to face them. Haechan slowly lowered his thumb with a sheepish grin.

‘A problem Haechan?’ the basketball player asked, jaw tight.

Oh that was new, no ‘bitch’ or ‘useless’ but a simple Haechan? Guess he could be kind with this one.

‘Nope.’ he assured sweetly, popping the ‘p’ and grinning at the taller man. He leaned on his hand and gestured to the jacket the dude was wearing with the other. ‘Just saying I love the jacket Eugene, blue really does suit you, you know~’

Mark stiffened a laugh beside him and Haechan stepped on his foot discreetly to stop him. A cute yelp could be heard and Haechan smirked behind the tip of his fingers.

‘Oh yeah, surely that’s why you were laughing.’ Eugene stated, glaring at the younger. And that calmed Mark and Haechan right away, who both sat up and glared back.

Forget what he said about being nice.

‘So what? Now I can’t laugh anymore?’ he spat, eyes squinting and fists curling.

The alpha cracked his neck, growling lowly under his breath, and Haechan flinched against his will but bared his teeth in defiance just after. Couldn’t he have a day of peace for once? Guess not. He wasn’t going down without a fight though.

‘Cat got your tongue?’ he snarled, smirking and Eugene saw read.

‘I would tell you to shut up, you useless omega,’ Eugene began and Haechan’s eyes turned orange gold at the insult. ‘-but you and I both know that you won’t listen-’

 

An arm wrapped itself around Haechan’s shoulders, stopping the alpha in his threat.

 

Haechan blinked and froze, eyes turning back to their original soft brown. Bracelets crinkled and he was swiftly brought against someone’s strong side, feeling their rib cage heave up and down, slow and threatening. And suddenly, he was overwhelmed by fresh grass and mint. Wrapped in it.

 

Mark.

 

‘A problem, dude?’ his voice – his growl – echoed in the air.

Dumbfounded and frozen, Haechan blinked at the wall. Was Mark… interfering?

‘Eyes on me.’ his friend said lowly, glaring at the alpha, and only then did Haechan realize how close Mark’s lips were to his ear, and how… possessive the grip on him would seem to the others.

Was Mark… protecting him?

But he wasn’t even a pack member! That made no sense. Yet, Haechan couldn’t help the blush on his cheeks or the hammering of his heartbeat, nor the confusion that was brought to him because of this action. So naturally, he made to remove himself of the hold.

A mellow and soft growl grazed his ear, lips and fangs slightly brushing against the shell of it, and his body automatically melted into Mark’s hold, head nuzzling the older’s neck in a whine.

Haechan shut his yes tight at his own actions and blushed.

‘Fuck you Lee.’ he mumbled, cursing Mark for using that against him but breathing in his scent to calm his nerves nevertheless.

He felt the boy smirk against his hair, and was it not for his current state, he would have punched him. Plus, the hammering in his chest was going out of control, and Haechan hated it as much as he loved it.

 

Shit. Double shit. That wasn’t good. At all. Fuck Mark lee.

 

When the basketball player kept glaring at the younger – who was too busy calming himself by looking at Mark’s neck and counting his moles – the later raised a brow at him. Eugene frowned at that, and confusion was on his face for a mere second before a look of understanding crossed it. But it was quickly replaced by indifference.

‘So, a problem?’ Mark re-asked, deadly eyes now a deep red. The alpha reluctantly shook his head, putting his two hands in the air in surrender, and finally turned around.

Haechan let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding when he heard Eugene’s chair scrapping back in position, and slumped against Mark’s side. And that’s when he realized how silent the whole classroom was.

Quickly raising his head from Mark’s neck, he facepalmed. Of course the whole classroom would be staring. How embarrassing.

So, he grinned at them, the kind of grin that meant ‘kindly fuck off’, and everyone scrambled around, the noises and clattering made by a normal class resuming.

 

Sighing in relief, Donghyuck searched the classroom for his best friend, having smelled his scent full of fear and anger during the confrontation. And when he found him, it was a wide eyed Jaemin holding onto Jeno in shock that greeted him. Gulping, Haechan knew he was in for an hour long rant about what happened. Seemed like lunch break will be just the two of them on the rooftop again. Haechan clicked his tongue at the thought and turned to face Mark once more. And that’s when he was reminded of how close they actually were. How… close close they were.

Gulping and willing his heartbeat to calm down, he gently peeled Mark’s arm off his shoulder.

‘Mark why…’ he began but quieted down quickly when Mark sighed. He froze in his movement, the arm slumping back into position. The alpha then drummed his fingers on his shoulder blade, making him shiver.

‘He would have picked up a fight with you.’ he simply muttered, eyes still cast on his desk, pretending to check his answers – Donghyuck knew he wasn’t focused on them though, the tapping of his foot and frantic leg spasms gave it away. And Donghyuck didn’t know what it meant, this statement; a justification, an explanation, an excuse or maybe he just remembered Lucas words back in the locker room? – he didn’t care.

No alpha ever stood up for him (Jeno doesn’t count).

Tears prickled at the corner of his eyes and he looked up at the ceiling, blinking them away. A bright, blinding grin appeared on his face. How good it felt. Haechan never asked for help, never really needed it, but he wasn’t gonna deny how nice it felt to finally have it.

‘I know.’ he simply said but lowered his head back on Mark’s shoulder. A way to say thank you.

Like when they were kids.

And, judging by the way Mark froze but relaxed, Haechan guessed he remembered it too. ‘But-’ he paused, hitting Mark’s chest with his fist, hard, just to make him wince. ‘I’m not a pack member! So, you don’t have to stand for me, okay?’

Mark snorted but smiled, amused. ‘Whatever Hyuckie.’

Haechan raised a brow in confusion. ‘Whatever what? I don’t-’

Mark sighed and, with a smile, angled his head down to look at Haechan. Haechan blinked at the sudden proximity, eyelashes fluttering quickly when their noses brushed. His breath hitched.

‘Two bats per seconds.’ Mark muttered in a daze, eyes swinging between each of Haechan’s own, his warm breath fanning over his melanin skin. And Haechan could only gape at him, too stunned to do anything and not comprehending what Mark was referring to, only focused on the close proximity with the alpha-

Mark locked eyes with him.

His breath hitched once again, his heart hammering like a restless drum in his chest. Fuck, did he ever mentioned how ethereal Mark was?

Because if he didn’t, well now he did.

And that’s when Haechan realized how smitten for the older he was.

Mark chuckled, leaning back and shaking his head, pen back in hand and scribbling answers down his sheet.

Haechan blinked. What in the world… just happened?

Discreetly fanning his blushing cheeks and clearing his throat, he raised his head from Mark’s shoulder – noting that he had finally let go of him. Putting his hoodie’s hood back over his head, he coughed loudly and tried desperately to will his blush away.

However, hearing Mark chuckle brought back his spirit and he wrecked his brain for a good comeback. So he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms and legs.

‘Oh, now I see how it is.’ he declared, proudly taking note of how Mark peered over his shoulder at him in curiosity. ‘Playing the good little alpha once again, aren’t you? I can see it now, “Markie Poo, benevolent saint of all alphas, the return”… coming May 24th in select theaters.’ he declared with a deep voice, making grand hand movements. He yelped when Mark brought him in a headlock, rubbing his scalp hard.

‘Oh shut up Hyuck, we all know you’re a fan.’ he gritted out, rubbing the younger’s scalp harder.

Haechan whined and fought back, finally freeing himself. ‘You wish.’ he grinned, blowing on a messy lock falling onto his forehead and leaning back down the older’s shoulder again. And when Mark just grinned at that and picked up his pencil to write down his answers once more, he knew he was gonna say something stupid real soon. That sole fact made him grin harder.

‘You’re heavy.’

And there it was. Haechan rolled his eyes fondly but smirked and pinched his side.

‘That’s because I have a big-’ Mark quickly looked up with a terrified expression and a blush adorning his cheeks, and rushed to shush him. But Haechan only backed away and escaped the hands, smirking. ‘-brain.’ he finished, giggling like a maniac when Mark froze in his track, groaning and meaning to shove him away. Haechan just cuddled his arm tighter for the sake of it and licked his neck playfully while he was at it.

‘The fuck Hyuck!’ he exclaimed, shying away and wiping his neck with a scowl. Donghyuck only stuck his tongue out playfully and winked, his little canines showing. The alpha gulped, a blush quickly making its way on his cheeks. Adorable. Like a little puppy.

 

But Mark was an alpha. A kind one yes, but the genes were here. So when he closed his eyes, brought his pencil down the table, turned to face him fully and cracked his fists, Haechan’s grin quickly vanished.

And that, ladies and gents, was how Haechan knew he was fucked.

‘You have exactly three seconds to run.’

Haechan’s chair fell on the ground and he bolted out the classroom.

 

If pencil cases and shoes flew across the room and hallways, no one bothered with it.

 

Except Mr. Park, maybe…

 

– 

 

‘I hate you.’ Haechan stated, reading the bold ‘detention’ written on the board. Mark only looked up and raised a brow, unimpressed.

‘Whose fault.’ he stated. Haechan groaned and slammed his head back down the desk.

 

– – – – – 

 

Haechan lifted his bow high, feather end of his arrow brushing against his cheek as he released it, letting spin through the cold air of the forest, in the darkness of the early morning. Haechan loved to practice his archery skills on days off and hoped to win the athletic tournament at school with it; he developed this hobby as a kid thanks to his cousin, Yuta.

Lowering the bow, he let himself bathe into the cool four am breeze, letting it wrap itself around his bare tanned arms and under the low cut sleeve holes of his sleeveless hoodie. He never felt cold. 

Fixing the bandanna in his hair, he looked up to see where his arrow landed.

It hit the bullseye.

Smirking in victory, he turned to the side to drop his bow, only to come face to face with a face he knew all to well.

‘NANA!’ he shrieked, clutching his heart and Jaemin only grinned brightly at him, eyes sparkling. Haechan furrowed his eyebrows, looking down at his friend who was only clad in… Renjun’s yellow pajamas bottom, a white shirt and… Jeno’s hoodie? Okay now that was weird. ‘What are you doing here? It’s four in the morning and you look way too bright for- dude you smell weird, did you sho… wer…’

His words left him and he widened his eyes comically, mouth falling open. No fucking way.

‘Oh my god… tell me it’s what I think it is.’ he wheezed, bringing his fists to his mouth, heart thumping excitedly in his chest. Jaemin only grinned wider and lowered his collar to expose his neck.

 

Two bites were on it. Mating bites.

 

‘OH MY FUCKING- HOLY SHIT NANA.’ he screamed, dropping his bow and throwing himself at his friend – literally – and Nana held him just as tight. ‘I’m so, so, so happy for you, you cannot even imagine.’ he mumbled, eyes brimming with proud and happy tears, feeling those of Jaemin wet his own neck.

‘I know.’ Jaemin chuckled, chocking on his tears with a big grin. ‘I couldn’t even believe it Hyuck I- I needed to tell you as soon as possible.’

Haechan snorted through his tears, grinning too. ‘Of course you had to. I’m your best hoe.’

Nana chuckled, hitting his shoulder weakly, and finally leaned back, keeping an arm looped around Hyuck’s waist. ‘And you’ll always be.’

Haechan just grinned harder if possible, eyes turning into two warm half moons.

Nana just stared at him lovingly. Hyuck was the love of his life – in a non-romantic way of course – he just loved him so much. And he owed him so much. Being a beta in their society was hard in its own way because you’re nothing ‘special’. But Haechan showed him that he was, in fact, special beyond what his rank made him to be. Haechan brought the good out of him, brought the real him out himself. Haechan was his brother, his best-friend, his other-half, his soulmate, his love and his life – Jaemin wouldn’t be lying when he says that he’d give his life for Hyuck – Haechan was his everything.

And he knew it was the same the other way around.

They were two oddities in a small world, two weirdly shaped puzzle pieces that against all odds fitted together and helped each other find the missing pieces that fitted with them. Jaemin owed a lot to Haechan. And in that moment, seeing the bright smile on the tan boy’s face, the pride and pure joy in his crinkling eyes, Jaemin knew that Haechan and himself were meant to be, meant to meet – they were fated and they were each other’s in their own way.

‘I love you.’ he let out, fresh tears rolling down his cheekbones as his eyes lost themselves into the ones of his best friend. Haechan only looked at him for a split second before he closed his mouth to smile warmly, his hand intertwining with Jaemin’s free one.

‘I love you too.’ he whispered, caressing his knuckles and Jaemin squeezed his hand, bringing his free one against his best friend’s tan nape. Haechan closed his eyes and let Jaemin lean in close, their foreheads softly colliding. ‘And I am so, so proud of you.’

‘Thank you. Thank you so much Donghyuck.’ Jaemin sobbed, softly kissing Haechan’s cheek – and with all the sobbing it was more of a gross lip smooch, but Hyuck didn’t care. Instead, he brought his own against his right temple, pressing softy.

‘Always Jaemin. Always.’ he promised, putting his free hand on Jaemin’s jaw, and the boy leaned into the touch and squeezed the one hand he was holding before intertwining their fingers. They stayed like that, maybe for a minute, maybe for an hour, they had no idea. They just stayed.

‘Petrichor. Grapes. Honey.’ Donghyuck suddenly declared.

‘Hum?’ Jaemin mumbled, eyes still closed.

‘You smell like that now.’ he explained with a giggle, bumping their noses softly.

Jaemin smiled and Haechan felt his scent sweeten. ‘Thanks for saying that. I couldn’t smell myself, and I scent it on Jen and Injun but… I wanted to be sure it was on me too.’

‘I know.’ the omega assured with a soft laugh, knowing full well that his best friend needed to hear it. He peeled his eyes open only to find Jaemin’s pink ones already staring back at him. He smirked.

‘You need to control yourself Nana. We can’t have you flashing your eyes everytime we bring your mates up.’ he teased, enjoying the way Jaemin blushed at the word ‘mates’.

Said boy punched him in the chest and finally leaned back.

‘Shut up.’ he grinned.

Haechan sighed dramatically and stretched his arms, enjoying the way his bones popped up and the cringe on Jaemin’s face. He smiled. Some things truly never changed.

‘Anyways. Not that I hate having you with me but go back to Noren.’ he announced, winking. Jaemin frowned and opened his mouth to retort but Haechan raised a hand in the air. ‘No. As much as I really wanna know the juicy details, tonight is your night honey. They need you by their sides, and you need them by yours. It’s your first day as mates. So go and enjoy it.’

Jaemin seemed to want to protest again but finally choose against it, smiling.

‘You’re the best.’ he squealed, jogging backwards. Haechan rolled his eyes and grabbed his bow from the ground.

‘Of course I am.’ he singsonged and took a glance at Jaemin’s retreating figure. ‘I want a full report by the end of the week hoe!’

Jaemin raised his thumbs up and yelled a ‘promise!’, before finally turning around and disappearing through the trees.

 

When he was gone, Haechan lowered his bow and raised his head. Looking up at the sky, he smiled.

‘I should feel sad and lonely. But I am happy.’

Chuckling, he let himself fall back onto the grass and sighed. Looking up at the moon, he let his fingers graze his birthmark and yawned, his heavy eyelids fluttering close.

 

‘He found home.’

 

Where is mine though?

 

– 

 

Haechan felt something wet fall onto his body.

Raindrops.

Scrunching up his nose, he shivered and curled against the closest thing- 

A… torso?

Frowning, he slowly blinked his eyes open and felt a bright grayish light seep through his eyelids, only to have someone shush him and tell him to go back to sleep. Haechan knew this voice. He couldn’t pinpoint who, but he knew he trusted it.

So he obeyed and leaned against the person’s torso, too tired to care about anything. The arm under his knees and the one around his waist tightened, shaking him a bit to raise him back into a comfortable position. Haechan knew he was carried but he had no idea where to. It would have alarmed him under normal circumstances but right now he was too tired to care.

Shivering, he balled his fists against the person’s hoodie and felt them speed up. Then, he heard them say something. He only hummed, trusting whatever the person’s was doing for their scent was familiar and comforting.

So he let his head lull back into the crook of their neck and let darkness engulf him over once more.

 

– – – – – 

 

Haechan fluttered his eyes open, yawning. Stretching his arms above his head, he huffed and let himself slump back against fluffy the bed covers.

And then it hit him.

He didn’t fall asleep in his bed last night. So what the fuck was he doing in his own bed.

Snapping his eyes open, he gasped. What was he doing back home? He didn’t sleepwalk did he? Nope, definitely not. Then… was he losing his memories?! Oh no, he was too young for that, he didn’t even have his first kiss (again, Jaemin doesn’t count), his first boyfriend-

A chuckle brought him out of his mini mental breakdown. A chuckle he knew all too well – an annoying one at that. Closing his eyes, he massaged his temples.

‘Tell me this is a dream…’ he growled under his breath, feeling his damp curls brush against his nails and he groaned inwardly. The dickhead that brought him home didn’t wash him – thank god – but he did a poor job at drying his hair, and now they were all stuck and smelly. Well, at least he put him in dry clothes. He’ll get a cookie for that.

‘Nope, this isn’t a dream.’ said dickhead singsonged, chuckling. ‘Say hi to the camera Hyuckie~’

‘More like a nightmare.’ he muttered, rolling on his side and giving a death glare to the boy sitting on his bedside. ‘You know Mark, I threw that thing out the window once, I wouldn’t mind doing it twice.’

Mark gulped and lowered his device, flicking it back into his pants.

‘You’re Satan.’ he declared pointing him and leaned back against the headboard.

‘More like his span.’ he corrected, smirking proudly, sitting up against the headboard too. ‘Now that the presentations are done, mind telling me what you’re doing in my room at… 7 in the morning?’ he turned to the older with raised eyebrows. ‘Since when are you up this early on a day off?’

Mark only raised a brow and smirked, glancing sideways at him. ‘Is that the way you thank people?’ he questioned, amused, and Haechan frowned.

‘Thanking you? What for?’ he asked, confused. Did Mark spent the night smoking shit? Was it why he was up so early and sprouting nonsense? But surely Doyoung wouldn’t have let Mark in in that state- forget that, everyone in their neighborhood was smitten with the older boy, they would definitely let him in. ‘Did you smoke pot?’ he wondered, frowning in disdain.

Mark scoffed and shook his head in disbelief. ‘No I didn’t, the fuck Hyuck?’

He hit his shoulder lightly and Donghyuck fake whined, pouting.

‘That hurt Markie poo!’

Mark shook his head again, this time with a smile on his lips, and leaned back against the headboard once more. Looking up at the ceiling, he hummed pensively. ‘So, maybe, I don’t know, thank me for bringing you home and saving you from potential hypothermia?’

 

It all came back rushing to him like a tidal wave.

 

‘Oh shit!’ he shrieked and hit Mark’s shoulder.

‘Ouch?’

‘You idiot!’ he growled, covering his face with the bed covers.

‘So I am an idiot because I saved your sorry ass from the storm?’ Mark frowned, defensively, and crossed his arms over his chest, scent souring. Haechan groaned. Mark could be so dense sometimes. Like, what was he supposed to do? Tell Mark how flustered he was by the way he had curled into his hold or how his heartbeat was stupidly beating at the speed of a racing car because Mark carried him and basically saved his ass, like one of those stupid prince charming from fairy tales he hated but secretly crushed on? Or that he hated him for making even believe that there was a chance of them being meant to be because Mark was like the best alpha material in the world and Haechan was deeply deeply craving for him?

Yeah, very likely to happen. Stupid Mark.

But, as much as he loved to tease and annoy Mark, he wasn’t there to make him really mad at him – especially not after the boy saved him – so, being the king he was at saving his own ass and making excuses, he crossed his arms and puffed out his cheeks making Mark peer curiously at him through his frown. ‘You could have woken me up you idiot! But no, you decided to carry me like a damn damsel in distress to fulfill your prince in shining armor kink.’

Mark opened his mouth to protest but before he could Haechan turned to him and brought his hands under his own jaw cutely, tilting his head and batting his eyelashes. ‘Am I that cute?’

 

Mark blinked, once then twice. And again.

 

Haechan lowered his hands, a look of worry crossing his features. Had Mark’s one and only brain cell finally left the nest?

But then, the unexpected happen.

A big, hard slap landed on his shoulder and another soon followed, making him hunch forward. And then Mark’s laugh resonated in the air, as always still high pitched, loud and cute.

‘Your brain cell did left you.’ he declared, finally ducking Mark’s slaps.

‘Oh my god, Haechanie that was so cute!’ he wheezed between two laughs, ignoring Haechan’s comment, choosing to slump back against the headboard while kicking his legs under the cover instead.

Haechan facepalmed mentally.

‘And that, ladies and gentlemen, is an alpha and a pack leader at that.’ he muttered under his breath, puffing his cheeks out in disbelief and amusement.

‘Aish stop being so cute seriously.’ Mark whined, kicking the bed covers once more.

Haechan raised a brow, clearly unimpressed by his behavior – purposely ignoring his own red cheeks at Mark’s words – and judged him. Hard. ‘That’s worst than I thought. It’s not just your one brain cell. Your whole sanity left you.’ Haechan blurted out, giggling when Mark finally regain his senses and kicked him.

Slumping back against the headboard too, Haechan playfully whined when the older rubbed his knuckles against his skull. To stop him, he fake bite his arm and Mark let go, the two of them laughing and catching their breath.

 

‘Thanks.’ he finally said, nodding and laughter quieting down. He lowered his head on Mark’s shoulder. As always, the older boy tensed but allowed the touch.

 

The two of them settled into a comfortable silence, silently counting the raindrops on his window for a while.

‘You know,’ Mark’s voice resonated in the air, breaking the silence. ‘when we were kids I always loved your bedroom. It reminded me of the forest.’

The sudden admission had Donghyuck blinking tiredly and gazing at his bedroom, its wooden walls covered in shitty drawings and Michael Jackson’s arts, his wooden ground, the ajar window on the left – now tattered with raindrops – with a dark green and comfy seat sill under it, his fluffy white bed, the dark green fluffy rug on the floor, the fairy lights scattered everywhere – yeah, he could see why Mark liked it.

But then a thought hit him. ‘Did you climb and enter my room through the window Mark Lee?’

Mark froze next to him and when he turned he offered him a sheepish smile.

‘You’re not serious.’ he deadpanned, facepalming unimpressed. ‘You know, doors are whole new revolutionary concept that is actually really convenient. Should try it one day.’

‘I don’t do well with modern inventions.’ Mark shrugged with a proud grin and the omega snorted.

‘Oh yeah, rumors has it that you’re bad with online shopping.’

Now it was Mark’s turn to snort and to fight off his flush.

‘More like Jeno has it.’ he scowled, rolling his eyes and mumbling a ‘fucker’ under his breath. Haechan chuckled and leaned back onto Mark’s shoulder.

‘Renjun actually.’ he corrected and Mark mumbled a ‘traitor’, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Haechan made a reminder in the back of his head to thank Renjun for the information and absentmindedly nudged Mark’s foot with his own, gently. He heard Mark chuckle lightly next to him and soon his foot was nudging back, equally gentle if not more. That made him smile against Mark’s hoodie and he moved his other foot around, encasing Mark’s one between his own. He felt Mark’s jaw move against his hair and he figured he was smiling too. Then, he felt a source of warmth over his right foot and smiled harder when he realized Mark had moved his toes above his foot, gently grazing it.

‘That tickles.’ he confessed, voice muffled by the boy’s hoodie and Mark only replied by curling their toes together. An old friend resurfaced on Haechan’s cheeks and he was glad that Mark couldn’t see it. So the boy simply chose to ignore it and enjoy the feeling their intimate moment created instead, playing with their feet again.

‘Are you gonna be okay?’ Mark suddenly whispered against his hair, and Haechan wondered why for a moment before a small smirk settled on his face.

‘Of course.’ he laughed quietly, a proud and happy one. ‘I am more than happy for Jaemin- him finding incredible mates he loves, finding an amazing pack, finding happiness and a family… that’s all I could have asked for.’

Mark stayed silent for a while. Then he sighed.

‘He is worried. Jeno texted me to say that Jaemin came back home happier than ever, but when realization that he broke your promise hit him-’ Haechan snorted fondly, rolling his eyes, ‘well, he was worried sick and about to go fetch you but-’

‘But it’s his first day with his mates, so as a good leader and friend you volunteered to look for me and find answers for him.’ Haechan completed, nodding and trying to ignore the painful clenching of his chest. ‘Well, tell him he is an idiot because our promise is nothing compared to him finally getting to be with them and-’

‘It’s not.’ Mark interrupted, and Haechan knew by the way his scent soured that he was frowning.

‘What? Of course it is, his happiness-’ he began retorting, frowning and looking up at the older, not understanding what he was implying.

‘No, not that.’ he interrupted once more and shook his head, finally meeting Haechan’s eyes. ‘I didn’t come find you out of duty or anything.’

Haechan was at a loss now, and it must have shown because Mark’s eyes softened and his hand came to cradle his cheek. Haechan’s breath hitched audibly and his eyes widened on the spot.

Why… why was Mark-

‘For you. I came for you, because I care for you. I smelled you not far away from our territory and then it began to rain and I was worried… I guess what I’m trying to say is that I didn’t do it for Jeno. Or Jaemin. I took care of you because you matter to me.’

Haechan could only stare back, deeply moved and still at word loss.

Mark was really a good person.

He gulped and lowered his face. ‘Th-thanks. Fuck, why did I stutter, I sound like a-’

Gentle fingers rose his face again, tilting his jaw up.

‘- fucktard?’ Mark completed, eyes crinkling in amusement, and Haechan blinked.

Oh.

Oh the asshole.

‘I’m so gonna throw that phone away, where is it-’ he growled, fumbling around to reach Mark’s hoodie’s pockets, only for the older to laugh out loud and push him back down on his shoulder.

‘C’mon, get back to sleep you still have time till Doyoung wakes up and makes breakfast.’ he declared, and Haechan moved again but Mark raised a brow. ‘Hyuck. Don’t make me use it.’

Haechan’s jaw fell. ‘You wouldn’t.’

‘Try me.’

‘You’re really an asshole.’ he groaned but slumped against him with all his weight, crossing his arms and grumbling angrily under his breath. Mark only laughed and flicked his forehead gently.

‘I prefer dickhead.’ he confessed teasingly and Haechan flipped him the bird, making him laugh harder.

It was silent for a while after that, and Haechan felt himself fall back into slumber.

‘Will you really be okay though? Being… packless while Jaemin is in now?’ Mark breathed out and Haechan didn’t answer, only clutching and snuggling his bicep.

He had been packless his whole life. Nothing was changing for him. It was changing for Jaemin, and it was changing in a good way.

Or so he tried to tell himself.

Deep down, he could feel the pit of his stomach churn. Yes, he had always been packless, but he wasn’t the only one, for the past years he had Nana by his side. Now that he was part of Mark’s one, he couldn’t help but feel like a puzzle piece with no fitting edges. And that scared him senseless. Because he wasn’t ready to feel more left out than he already was- had been his whole life. That scared him senseless.

But he was strong. Haechan was strong and always knew this would happen. He was independent and strong, he would survive this new challenge.

So he shut his eyes tight and squeezed Mark’s arm, letting Mark’s scent engulf him.

Yeah he would.

 

– – – – –

 

‘So, what flavor should we get?’

 

Haechan hummed a bit as he stared at stray cat while kicking a pebble on the sidewalk. Next to them an old red car horned – passing before a blue one whose pipe was emitting smock – blowing wind on his trail that shook some leafs out a tree. It was rush hours but in their small city there was never really many cars so it was pretty calm, sun beginning to set and casting a beautiful orange shadow on the street’s small beige and salmon building apartments and shops. A few kids exited Baskin Robbins a few meters ahead and Donghyuck was reminded of Mark’s question.

‘Hmmm… I think I’ll go for strawberries?’ he shrugged, shoving his hands in his jacket’s pockets. God, he was beginning to sweat, this weather was way too hot for a jacket. A few students came running toward them, one howling happily as he chased the other two, and Mark and Haechan smiled at them, parting to let them run. The kids offered them a wave to thank them and before they knew it they were gone, entering the park.

‘Strawberry is a classic Hyuck; Can’t you pick something more bold?’ Mark asked as he raised a brow. Donghyuck raised a brow and looked both ways before crossing the road.

‘You’re funny Canada. Aren’t you the one sticking with watermelon every time?’

Mark snorted and crossed his arms defensively.

‘Watermelon is a bold choice.’

Now it was Haechan’s turn to snort, patting his shoulder as they walked toward Baskin Robbins entrance. ‘Yeah, very bold flavor Mark-hey!’ he yelped when the older brought him in a headlock, fist rubbing (read: burning) his scalp.

‘Shut up Hyuck, or you’ll have to pay your ice cream yourself.’ he threatened and Haechan finally freed himself with a roll of the eyes.

‘Yeah, coz it’s not like you were desperate for an ice cream and I was the only person available.’ he declared, holding the door open. Mark walked ahead, smiling in amusement and bashfulness.

‘Shut it fucktard.’

Haechan laughed and closed the door, trailing after the older. But the moment they went in the line, Mark’s phone started to buzz. Smiling apologetically, said boy answered the call, frowning. ‘Dad? What is it- How.. But I checked and- oh shit, I thought we were- yeah, I’m coming home now. See you and thank you.’

He hung up and Haechan looked up worriedly.

‘Is everything alright?’ he asked warily and put a hand on Mark’s shoulder. Said boy straightened up and sighed.

‘Yeah sorry, we just need to go now.’ he stated, already walking toward the door. Haechan gaped, watching him leave just like that, like he expected Haechan to follow along when they were planning to eat ice cream.

‘What? Why?’

Mark sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, stopping in his track. ‘Nothing Hyuck, we’re just leaving. That’s all. C’mon.’

Donghyuck began walking but crossed his arms, ignoring the anger boiling inside him at the moment because of the way he was treated. Mark expected him to leave the place just like that, with no valid reason? Okay his dad called so it must be important, he get it. But they came all the way here by walk for thirty minutes and now he really wanted an ice cream. Couldn’t Mark wait five more minutes? ‘Is it that important? Can’t you really stay and-’

‘Why do you keep asking? We’re just leaving, so hurry.’

Donghyuck blinked. Was he serious?

‘First of all you don’t get to speak to me like that. And second, please tell me what’s happening. Are you okay-’

Suddenly, Mark sighed through his nostrils and grabbed his wrist, tugging him closer and stared him down, pissed off, growling through his teeth.

And snapped.

‘I said, we’re leaving now. Can’t you just shut up for once and follow what I say-’

Donghyuck ripped his wrist out of his hold, clutching it as he looked up at Mark with wide eyes.

Wide betrayed eyes.

Slowly, he gulped and lowered his head, body unwillingly shaking.

‘Did you… did you just order me around?’

His words were low, almost buried under the chatter of the customers. But Mark definitely heard them, he was sure of it. Mark never snapped at him, never forced him. Never…

Without waiting for his answer, Donghyuck brushed past him.

‘Forget it. You go home alone.’

Donghyuck ignored Mark’s calls and just walked away, quickly rounding a corner so that Mark wouldn’t find him. If he ever chase him because he apparently was in hurry so he probably won’t bother. His eyes prickled and he sat down on a bench, bringing his knees to his chest to hide his face in it. What the fuck was wrong with Mark. The boy had never snapped at him or attempted to force him into something by using his ‘dominance’ against him. Not since Haechan gave him his trust. Sure, he growled here and there, but it was playful and over silly stuffs, never in serious situations. Never to actually force him into things he actually didn’t want to do or feel or whatever. Now, he just felt betrayed and played.

Deep down, he knew the boy probably never meant to snap at him, to force him, that he had a good valid reason for panicking like that, a reason that was private. Haechan knew he shouldn’t have forced it out of him, just trust him and went along. But he just couldn’t help it, hating when someone he lov- trusted raised their voice at him for no valid reason, when they tried to impose him things. He get that he fueled it and had it coming… But at the moment he couldn’t care less, just way too hurt that the first thing Mark thought of to deal with his anger and frustration was force.

Haechan felt dirty. Because, if he didn’t snap openly at Mark, it was because his omega side couldn’t. He really fell for Mark’s dominance. It never happened before. And he felt like a worthless omega.

Damn, reality sucks.

 

– – – – – 

 

Mark was absent. And had been the whole week.

School was coming to an end meaning it was the moment were Haechan needed his head clear (read: get an explanation, apologize and get an apologize in return) and a distraction because finals, and who was better than Mark? But nope, said boy was nowhere to be found. Which meant that Haechan was left sitting alone in classes, drawing on his desk with his pencil. To say he was feeling boredom up to the very core of his ass was an understatement. He was this close to knocking himself out with their way too heavy and way too boring wolf history book, if it were not for the beautiful view of his teacher’s beautiful ass, suddenly so close to his desk-

What?

‘Mr. Lee, not that I don’t appreciate your artistic take on… wolves? But we are currently studying Moon Pack’s fight to regain the lands of Kwei, not the way their furs sweep in the wind.’

Haechan sat up straight and offered him a sheepish but malicious smile. ‘But their furs must have been regal if the alpha’s one seduced their enemy?’

Mr. Park blinked, once, then twice and then sighed, rubbing his temples before crossing his arms and Donghyuck smirked. Contrary to popular beliefs, he wasn’t a slacker, and even though he was drawing on their school tables and found what his teacher was saying extremely boring, he was listening. ‘Whatever. Just… just stop vandalizing the tables.’

Haechan offered him a bright and victorious grin, and with that the older man turned around and resumed with his lesson.

Haechan pouted, looking at his pencil, wondering what he should do now that he couldn’t draw anymore. It was white with little brown flowers and a gold ring holding a small eraser on the edge, which was chewed like every other pencil held more than ten minutes by a student should be chewed. Watching the birds fly outside, he almost fell asleep when a thought crossed his mind.

Mr. Park never said anything about drawing somewhere else, now, did he?

Smirking, he opened his notebook at a random page and began drawing again. He didn’t draw anything specific, just a wolf with dark fur, swiping in the wind as he stood on a boulder – really, it wasn’t great, but it’s still looked cool so he felt proud – and then his lead broke, creating a small line in the middle of the wolf’s face. Cursing, he erased it quickly and rummaged through his binder for his pencil sharpener- his fingers fell on green plastic.

Mark.

After their first real fight this year, when Donghyuck had angrily thrown him back the green pencil sharpener and avoided him, Mark had gave him it back shortly after – after all, he did say it was his.

Donghyuck’s heart warmed at the thought, remembering Mark’s words, and he slumped in his chair with a small smile, longingly looking at his left where Mark should have been. To say he also felt bad and reduced to a piece of shit after their ‘argument’ would be an understatement. All he wanted after a week without Mark was to see him again and move on. Yes, he is hurt, and yes he feels bad. But above all, he misses Mark. And he wanted him back.

Now, Donghyuck wasn’t stupid, either Mark had a long ass week lasting sickness (which would be very unusual considering he was a strong and healthy alpha but not impossible) or he was feeling bad because of their argument and decided to avoid him (that would be extreme but again, not impossible) or he was in rut. So, taking into account that he was rarely ever absent – coming to classes even when he was wearing a cast back in 9th grade – and that, taking in that first fact, he wouldn’t be absent over a small fight, the alpha was obviously going through his rut.

And that is why exactly Haechan felt bad. He wasn’t stupid, he could connect dots and realize that that evening Mark panicked because he was about to enter rut and forgot about it – dumbass – hence why he was in such hurry. Of course, at the time Hyuck couldn’t know that, but now that he understood, he felt stupid. Because, just like heats, ruts were private and personal matters and Mark wouldn’t talk about it just like that, just like he wouldn’t talk about heat just like that (especially not in Baskin Robbins). And that didn’t excuse his act of forcing Donghyuck to leave, but yeah…

Now, fake common preconception number two: ruts are not about being horny and popping a boner every hour- well, not just about that. It was a mix of boners, pain, bloodlust, anger, pain, boners and did he mentioned pain? Yeah, all in all, ruts were pain in the ass. Sure, just like heats, ruts could be calmed by a simple gesture of an omega, like hand holding and shit, but things could escalate quickly if the alpha lack control. Which is why Mark was alone, he guessed – not that the alpha lacked control, but Mark was a careful little shit, so.

Though, he couldn’t wait for him to come back to school. Just the single action of pocking him in the ribs with his pencil and be whacked in return was something he longed for, and he bet he looked miserable. Damn, he knew he was whipped, but he didn’t expect it to be that much!

 

‘And he is whipped your honor!’

 

Speaking of that. Nana’s voice broke his thoughts and he looked up, annoyed. ‘I’m not whipped- where the fuck is everyone?’

Jaemin rolled his eyes as he pulled Haechan’s stuffs in his backpack, Jeno holding it up for him. ‘Stop swearing so much, I swear to god you’re worse than a sailor. And class is over Hae, get your ass up.’

Donghyuck blinked. Shit, was he so lost in his thoughts about Mark that he didn’t even hear the bell ring? Standing up and quickly thanking his friends he hugged them goodbye as they went to fetch Renjun, and began to exit the classroom too.

 

‘An instant Mr. Lee.’

 

Mr. Park’s voice made him stop in his track and he turned around curiously. Was he in trouble for slacking off in class? No, that didn’t seem to be the case, so why…

Haechan went to take a seat on the nearest desk, the teacher sighing exasperatedly but doing nothing to stop him as he put his stuffs away.

‘Are you okay?’ the question threw him off guard and he stared at his teacher in confusion, the man finally pausing to lean against the board.

‘Huh, yes sir. May I know why you ask that?’

Mr. Park nodded and began to undo the cuffs of his dress shirt to roll his sleeves up. ‘Just wondering. You know I’ve been in your spot too, waiting for my mate’s heat to pass so I could see them again, so I know how an absence feel-’

Haechan flushed red. ‘I do-don’t have a mate sir!’ he chirped, looking aside embarrassed by his teacher assumption and praying that the man was not thinking what he was thinking he was.

His teacher frowned and cocked his head. ‘I understand if you want to keep it secret but, really, almost everyone knows about you and Mark, so you can tell me-’

Haechan shrieked.

He flushed beet red and stared wide eyes at the man in front of him.

Oh god, what the fuck. Please let him die right now.

‘Wh-wha-’ he sputtered, breath heaving and hands waving in denial in front of him. ‘I-we- he is not my mate sir!’

Mr. Park blinked. Once. Then twice. ‘Oh shit.’

The curse leaving his teacher’s mouth made him gape at him, eyes turning even wider. He made his teacher curse. This day was to be celebrated. Sadly, right now he was close to fainting from embarrassment and digging his own grave, so that would have to wait. Well, just like Mr. Park said: Oh shit.

‘Wow, I really thought you and him were mates, sorry Donghyuck.’ the man said honestly, smiling sheepishly through his frown. Haechan blinked. First, his teacher cursed, second, he called him by his name. Was he sick?

‘That’s okay sir.’ he managed to say through his heavy breathing. He began fidgeting with a thread coming off from the hole in his jeans as he asked, ‘May I know why you were thinking so?’

Mr. Park sighed and peeled himself away from the board. Then, the unexpected happened; the man loosened his tie, ran a hand through his hair, which messed them up and made him look way younger than usual – a nice change if you asked him – and sat on his fucking desk.

Sat. On. His fucking desk.

Okay, Mr. Park was definitely sick.

‘You guys are always so close, him looking out for you and you looking at him fondly. I assumed that you were…’ he gestured between them and Haechan shook his head slowly, still in a daze. ‘But I guess I was wrong.’ he grabbed the bottle of energetic drink by his side and drank a big gulp before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and settling his eyes back on his student. ‘You like him, don’t you?’

Haechan should have sputtered or blush, but all he could bring himself to do was sigh and smile. ‘Am I that obvious?’

Mr. Park chuckled and put the lid back on his bottle. ‘To be frank, yes. You’re quit transparent.’ Haechan winced at that and his teacher chuckled. ‘But to be honest, I believe you should not give up on him.’

Haechan looked up startled, making Mr. Park chuckle. ‘You’ve considered it, haven’t you? But your love for him is so strong and you believe that there is a chance for you to be with him, so you don’t. Because you want to believe that Mark’s sweet gestures could mean more when it comes to you than when it comes to other. Am I right?’

Haechan could only gape like a fish, feeling naked because of how exposed he was. ‘H-how did you-’

‘Because I was once in your spot Donghyuck.’

The answer threw him off guard, leaving him speechless. That was not what he had expected. The teacher seemed to sense his curiosity and surprise, so he sighed and looked outside the window. The sun was setting, casting orange and pink hues in the sky, reminding him of his own years in high school. ‘I was crushing so fucking hard on this boy back when I was your age-’ the curse made Donghyuck gasp and the teacher chuckled. ‘Of course, at first he had no interest in me – or so I thought at the time – so I didn’t even think I stood a chance, and was just my dorky self trapped in lanky limps and way too deep voice that didn’t match my personality at all. I kind of stood out in a ‘bad way’ I guess, just like you in school right now.’ Donghyuck made an offended noise at that, but had to slump in defeat for what he was saying was real. ‘But when we got stuck together for a project – yeah, cliché I know – I thought I could show him that I was worth it. You guess it, I made a fool of myself.’

Donghyuck chuckled at that, having troubles imagining the charismatic alpha Park like a dork and a klutz, though he could begin to see it now… 

‘But I guess my awkwardness worked and we began to be friends. And I was happy with that, thought I could settle for it because I never dared once to even imagine that this perfect being would even begin to see me as something else.’

Haechan had to bit his lower lip in nervousness. His teacher had seen right through him because he lived through the same thing. Mr. Park looked up and sighed seeing the nervous wreck in front of him, the student dreading to hear what he would say next.

‘Look Donghyuck, I’m not saying your story will unfold the same way as mine did, but you need to remember that as perfect as Mark is, he is only human too. He’s got flaws and features that some will not like, but you accept them and put them in the background because you like him just like that and find him perfect just like that. Am I wrong?’

Haechan reluctantly shook his head.

‘Right. So please remember that even though he seems amazing and you think of yourself as dull and plain next to him, you’re not.’ the alpha stated and suddenly Haechan felt a rush of warmth reach his face and his eyes watered. ‘I don’t know you like your friends do Donghyuck, and I’m sure that if you ask Jaemin or Renjun- or even Mark, they’ll all go on on an essay about how amazing you are.’ he chuckled at his own words and so did Donghyuck, though he was fighting the tears in his eyes away. ‘But I know that you’re someone unique and great, with a promising future, and I don’t even know you that well. So that proves something, right?’

Haechan nodded with a watery grin. ‘I guess so.’ he agreed with a chuckle, tilting his head to look up at the ceiling. Mr. Park laughed, shaking his head as he looked at his student fondly.

‘To be honest you sometimes remind me of him too, my mate.’ he stated and Haechan looked down curiously.

‘Really?’ he wondered in surprise, eager to find out why.

‘Yeah. I love him but he is one hell of a feisty and playful omega.’

At that, Donghyuck burst out laughing, clutching his ribs. ‘Wow, sir, would have never imagined you with such a match.’ his eyes softened as he asked, ‘Is he the one you were talking about earlier?’

His teacher smiled fondly as he nodded and Haechan unknowingly breathed out in relief. ‘Yeah, yeah he is. That’s why I’m saying this to you Donghyuck. Please, stop thinking like- no, stop putting every of Mark’s actions and words behind the label ‘friendly’. I almost lost my man doing so.’

 

‘But it’s so scary…’ the whisper was out before he registered it.

 

‘I know. But think of it that way. I’m not saying there’s anything, but if there was, how do you think he feels when you friendzone every single one of his attempts?’

Haechan froze. He never thought of it that way. All this time he was so focused on his own feelings and fears that he never thought or considered once the possibility of Mark liking him back and being hurt by his behavior. It was like cold water was poured on him.

‘Trust me Donghyuck, you have everything an alpha could be asking for- no, I’m not hitting on you so shut up- and yes, you’re talented, you’ve got the wits and barks it takes to put back an alpha in his place and you’re beautiful. And Mark would be a total ‘dickhead’ for not seeing all of that.’ Mr. Park hoped off his desk and patted his shoulder, bending a bit to look at his blushing and smiling student.

‘Just… just stop playing safety and take some risks, yeah? I only want the best for you, and if it ever turns out wrongly, you know you have Jaemin with you to kick the dude some balls.’ Haechan laughed frankly at that, nodding as he could totally see Nana do that, and Mr. Park smiled fondly, ruffling his hair. ‘Open your eyes and see things for what they are. Trust me, if he feels nothing, you’ll see it pretty quickly. But either ways? You won’t regret going out of your comfort zone. Don’t risk losing him.’

Mr. Park let go of him and winked. ‘Trust me, I know about love-’

He was cut by arms wrapping around his waist and a head cuddling his chest. Startled, he blinked and looked down in surprise at the light brown mop of hair cuddling his chest, arms hanging in the air awkwardly around the teen. ‘Thank you so much Mr. Park.’

Mr. Park’s eyes softened and he allowed himself to finally relax into the hold, arms firmly wrapping around the teen and petting his hair. ‘Any times Donghyuck.’

Haechan let go after a while and offered him a grateful smile as he hoped off the desk. The teacher ruffled his hair fondly one last time, earning himself a little whine, and went back to collecting his stuffs by his desk.

As Donghyuck was about to exit Mr. Park called out for him. Haechan turned his head sideways, raising his brows and Mr. Park smiled.

‘Don’t forget the essay for next week.’

Haechan groaned and closed the door, hearing his teacher laugh behind it.

‘I hate him.’

But the fond smile on his lips betrayed him.

 

– 

 

Haechan trudged down the stairs by his school entrance happily, the talk with Mr. Park having lifted his spirits up. Really, once Mark’s rut was over they needed to clear things up. He really wanted Mark back and he knew that the alpha felt just as bad. So, he knew things will settle quickly. And he couldn’t wait for it, Mr. Park’s words making the future seem brighter.

With a smile, he closed his eyes and let himself enjoy the warmth of the setting sun as it tickled his skin. He felt like this hero in movies, the one ready to just break into a song about the beauty of life and love as the camera rolls on a beautiful shot of the nature that just radiates happiness. And, as the good diva he was, he was ready to do just that as he hopped off the last steps and opened his eyes. Only for them to fall on a black and blue motorcycle.

Breath hitching, he stopped in his tracks and looked up at the figure next to it.

Mark was standing there, looking better than ever, all fresh and healthy and hot – how unfair life was, he didn’t remember coming out of a single heat looking like a god! He looked so boyfriend like, clad in his jeans and white shirt, it was surreal.

And when his eyes finally found his, he felt a wave of relief hit him. Mark was looking equally sad and constipated, it was almost endearing – if only they both didn’t look downright pathetic at the moment.

And maybe it was because of Mr. Park’s words of advice but his feet moved of their own, getting quicker with each steps, until he was running and collapsing against the older’s torso, arms wrapping around his middle and breathing in the familiar and comforting scent of fresh grass and mint. Oh god, he had missed it.

Mark let out a startled noise, clearly not having expected that when the younger came running to him – let’s be honest, Haechan was more of a ‘let me throw you a punch as a greeting’ sort of person – especially not after what happened last week. But he quickly recovered and wrapped his arms around him, one wrapping by the small of his back and the other going to his nape, holding him in place, almost afraid he’d run away. And Haechan breathed out at that, relieved that the older didn’t push him away – let’s be honest, Mark was a ‘bipolar relationship with skinship’ sort of person – and with what happened, he feared he would reject him. But with that, he knew Mark had missed him just as much if not more.

The older breathed in his scent and sighed in what seemed like relief. ‘I’m so fucking sorry, you cannot imagine.’

Haechan breathed in shakily, wrapping his arms tighter around him, fingers clutching the T-shirt. ‘It’s okay. I should have know what was happening, fuck, I shouldn’t have pried and-’

‘You couldn’t know, Hyuck. Not when I panicked so much and was so embarrassed an angry at myself that I refused to say anything. If anything, I’m the one that fucked up.’ he stopped and breathed in his hair. ‘Fuck, I’m so sorry, I should never have snapped, never forced anything out of you. That was so low of me and I can’t believe I did it, after you agve me your trust.’ Donghyuck gulped and shook in his hold, clearly moved by the older’s words but still hurt. ‘I would understand if you want me to go away for a while, or if you don’t trust me anymore. I just wanted you to know that I regret doing it and that I’m sorry.’

Haechan shook his head right away. God, was Mark that stupid? How could he believe he would push him away after hugging him like that? Dumb Mark Lee.

‘Just promise me you’ll never do it again.’ he mumbled in his chest and Mark let out a huge breath, obviously relieved. His hold tightened and he pressed a kiss down his hair.

‘I swear. Oh god, thank you so much Hyuck.’

‘Just shut up and hug me dickhead.’ he mumbled, fighting off the blush off his cheeks. For now, the hurt was still here, but there was no doubt that with the time it would leave. And Mark’s words reassured him. Now, he just felt content. So he purred, and allowed himself to hug him harder.

Mark noticed that and chuckled. ‘Missed me that much?’

‘Confident this much?’ the younger retorted but never denied and Mark laughed softly at that, leaning back a bit to take a good look at him.

‘You seem… glowy? Did something happen in my absence?’ he questioned, but then smirked playfully. ‘Or did you really miss me that much?’

Haechan pinched his side. ‘Don’t be so full of yourself, it doesn’t suit you.’ And there good old Donghyuck was back!

‘Haechanie!’ he whined, squirming when Haechan tried to pinch him again. And there, good old Mark was back too!

‘See? Now that’s you.’ the omega joked, tilting his head and sticking his tongue out and Mark rolled his eyes. Haechan was sure that as much as he had missed him, he did not miss his constant teasing~

Mark then frown, slightly sniffing the air. ‘Yo, Hyuck, have you been in contact with Mr. Park recently?’

‘Of course, we have his class on the last period. Did the rut finally got to your remaining brain cell? Are you losing your memory now?’ Haechan teased, fake gasping and putting a hand before his own mouth. Mark rolled his eyes once again but shook his head.

‘No shit. I’m talking about real contact fucktard.’ the older sighed exasperatedly and Haechan felt his heart miss a bit. He really did miss the name calling. Really, really missed it.

‘Yeah, we had a little make out session in his homeroom just now.’ he stated like it was a matter of fact.

The pure look of horror and anger crossing Mark’s face made it all worth it.

‘I’m going to kill him.’

‘Oh my god, what the fuck no Mark! Nothing happened, are you crazy?’ he burst out laughing at Mark’s face, not believing how easily the alpha could be fooled but secretly liking the way he reacted. Mark groaned and flicked his forehead, forcing him to calm down.

‘Then why do you smell like him?’ he insisted, looking down pointedly at him and tightening his hold on his waist. Okay. Okay, what on Earth. He was going to fucking combust at this rate. But he only rolled his eyes with a smile, gaze softening. Mark being a protective alpha was adorable. Endearing even.

‘Because we had a small talk about our lives and how I reminded him of both himself and his mate.’ he declared with a fond smile, omitting the fact that he thought him and Mark were mates. ‘He told me he would be there to help me if needed, we hugged and then he told me not to forget about the upcoming essay.’ he groaned at the last part, head absentmindedly falling on Mark’s shoulder. Mark did nothing for a moment but then he chuckled and patted his back. And if he wasn’t so focused on Mark’s scent he would swore he was right when he said that Mark held him a bit tighter again.

And that’s when the spark of hope inside his soul shone brighter. Mark’s actions, Mark’s words… Mark’s whole attitude… it clearly meant something… While Haechan might be slow, he wasn’t blind. Were Mark’s feeling toward him changing? His back burned where it was being touched, and his own fingers closed over Mark’s nape, trying not to melt into the burning touch.

Mark was being a protective friend, as always, just like Jeno… right?

Fuck, this was too confusing and he was a mess. Here was coming a sleepless night!

‘Say, what are you doing here man?’ he asked instead, trying to change his thoughts to not let them wander down dangerous places.

Mark hummed for while before answering. ‘My rut finished this morning, figured I could come and apologize to you for being a dick… and do with some Baskin Robbin if someone was around and up to grab some.’

Haechan snorted. ‘And I’m your willing victim.’

‘And you’re my willing victim.’ Mark confirmed, grinning down at him and, from the crook of his neck, Haechan grinned back. The omega finally leaned back and stretched his arms, enjoying the pop in his joints before holding his hand out.

‘Then get your ass moving dickhead. I’m hungry.’ he declared with an overly fake sweet grin.

‘Ever heard of the word ‘patience’?’ Mark facepalmed, reaching for his helmets.

‘A distant relative.’ Haechan affirmed, nodding and grabbing the helmet.

‘God, you’re insufferable.’

‘And you’re paying. Now, let’s go, this talk got me starving.’

 

– 

 

‘And I was like ‘Jeno, shut the fuck up and just write down six’ but he kept insisting that it was seven-’

‘And when they asked the teacher,’ Renjun interrupted Jaemin after swallowing his mouthful of mint ice cream, ‘he facepalmed and told them the answer was fifteen.’

Jisung and Chenle burst out laughing while Mark frowned and Haechan snorted, almost choking on his coke.

Turned out that when Mark and Haechan arrived at Baskin Robbins, the ‘Dreamies’ were already there. And now, they were all seated together, listening to ‘Norenmin Stupid Adventures’ ep 306.

Shaking his head at his two idiotic friends, he turned back to Mark and, when he saw him frowning, nudged him.

‘Hey, what’s up?’ he asked in slight worry. Mark tilted his head and clicked his tongue, making him look like a confused puppy instead of the alpha he was.

‘I don’t understand. Shouldn’t the answer really be seven?’ he wondered, looking at Donghyuck with bright round inquiring eyes, still looking like a confused puppy.

Haechan raised his brows and exhaled though his nose. Oh god. You gotta be kidding him.

‘Okay, I always knew you and Jeno were not the brightest crayons in the box but you truly took it to another level today Markie poo.’

Checking his watch, he grabbed the alpha’s arm and dragged him up toward the exit. ‘However I’ll put it on fatigue- but just for today because we have to go home early. Your mom is cooking kimchi stew and I’m not missing on that. So c’mon man, wake up what’s left of your brain and start walking because I don’t know if it’s the constant burger eating or the gym, but damn you’re not light.’

Mark’s senses finally kicked back in and he scowled, hitting the younger’s head. ‘Shut up fucktard, you’re just weak.’ he then adds ‘It’s the gym.’

Haechan scoffed and let out a ‘pardon me’, indeed knowing it was the gym. But Mark didn’t need to know that. Especially after saying he was weak.

So he kept pestering him as they reached the exit, Mark never failing to strike back.

 

When they disappeared from sight, Jeno turned to his mates.

‘Now, I know I’m not the brightest crayon in the box as Hyuck kindly put it, but there was definitely something going on here.’

Jaemin snorted but offered him a soft grin, pecking his cheek, while Renjun laughed behind his straw next to them.

‘Yeah Jen.’ the beta murmured, looking back toward their classroom, a happy smile full of hope blossoming on his face. ‘Definitely.’

 

– – – – – 

 

The weeks went by, their group’s little bond getting stronger with the days, and even without being pack Jungwoo, Lucas and Haechan felt like they belonged. Jaemin was glowing more than ever, the love radiating from him almost blinding for passersby. And when Haechan said that Jeno and Renjun were ten times worst, he meant it – the boys were basically all over Nana and all over each other, sometimes almost making it uncomfortable for everyone. But hey, they were newly mated so that was only fair game.

Lucas on the other hand had (un)surprisingly stepped up his game and was taking Jungwoo out on ‘friendly’ dates, and the older was (un)surprisingly just as receptive, taking Lucas out on them too. If you asked Donghyuck, they were just as equally grossly and idiotically cute as perfect for each other. But of course, he would never say it outloud, preferring to embarrass Lucas with suggestive eyebrows or disgusted faces.

As for his friendship with Mark, well, it’s been going well. Actually, they had gotten closer, their ‘fight’ bringing them closer against all odds – to the point of Mark feeling confident enough to dump the content of his water bottle over his resting self on the grass next to Jaemin in the middle of their free afternoon – courtesy of Mr. Park being absent (read: Him, having sex with their science teacher in their home by the beach in Jeju, like every other years at the same time for their not-so-secret-anymore relationship’s anniversary).

He took off his now wet sunglasses, glaring at the proud alpha hovering above him with a stupid grin that he wanted to slap away. With his lips preferably.

Mark howled victoriously, doing some ugly victory dance moves.

Perhaps, a simple hand slap would suffice.

‘You did not just do that.’ he growled behind his teeth. Mark giggled again, raising his now empty water bottle and shrugging, a smirk appearing over his face when Haechan paled for a second.

His eyes flashed orange gold. Mark gulped. Haechan growled. Mark bolted.

 

‘YAH MARK MINHYUNG DICKHEAD LEE!’

 

Within the next seconds, Haechan snatched Jaemin’s water bottle, rose on his feet and ran after the hysterically laughing alpha, throwing spurts of water at him.

Seeing that, Chenle took off his headphones and jumped down the railing.

‘Fire’s open, ladies!’ he yelled, brandishing his own water bottle, and running toward an unsuspecting Renjun and threw water on his back. Laughing his ass off, he gulped however when a wild Jeno appeared, growling and twirling two water bottles in his hands.

‘The war is on midget.’ he announced, pressing down on the two bottles. Lele yelled and backed away, shielding his face with his forearms as Jeno chased him around their school’s borders.

As Haechan was running away from Renjun who had sneaked up to his hiding spot behind the stairs, he heard a scream and turned around, stunned.

Jaemin was struggling to rise from the grass as Jisung was brandishing the water hose of their school’s gardening club and aiming it straight at him.

‘Step up your game, gays!’ he declared proudly with a smirk, whooping the water on Jaemin and laughing maniacally.

Renjun gasped and ran past him to aid his boyfriend and Haechan blinked.

‘Jisung is the devil.’ he stated, staring at the scene and smirking when Jeno made an apparition behind Jisung. ‘But he is an idiot.’ His point was proven when Jisung yelped. Haechan smirked and began running toward the scene, twirling his own bottle in his hand. ‘I’m coming lose-’

His words were cut short by his own yelp when two arms wrapped around his waist from behind, and in a matter of second he was picked up and swung around. Donghyuck’s hands automatically grabbed the arms and he smiled when his fingers came in contact with bracelets.

‘Mark!’ he yelped, laughing his ass off when said boy twirled him faster. Mark’s laugh resonated next to his left ear and he leaned his head away from the warm breath for it tickled him. Mark seemed to pick up on that since he slowed down and dropped him, but didn’t let go, instead tightening his hold around his waist and hooking his chin on his shoulder, purposely blowing air against his ear.

Haechan erupted in a giggling fit.

‘Oh my god stop it.’ he pleaded through his laugh, clutching Mark’s knuckles as he lurched forward to escape his wrath.

Mark finally let his arms go loose against Donghyuck’s waist, the younger taking the opportunity to turn around but was momentarily mesmerized by the sight before him. Mark Lee, head thrown back and laughing loudly, broad shoulders and long neck shining under the sun and droplets of water running down to pool down his collarbones, soaked white t-shirt exposing his fit chest – he was shinning.

Mark Lee was… utter perfection.

 

‘Yo wassup guys? Wait- water fight and no one calls Xuxi and Jungwoo? The war is on everyone!’

 

And that efficiently broke the magic, and suddenly he could hear Mark’s laughter all over again as well as Jeno’s screams for mercy.

‘Your fault for making out in the male bathroom!’ Renjun screamed, aiming the hose at the newcomers.

Mark seemed to have hear the commotion as well since he peeked curiously over Hyuck’s shoulder, arms still loosely looped around his hips. Haechan smiled at the cute amused look crossing his face and almost reached out to caress his jaw. Almost. Because what refrained him was the feeling of something cylindrical in his left hand.

Oh right.

With no other warning than a full grin, he sprayed his bottle all over Mark’s face.

The older boy yelped and let go of him to shield his face.

‘Aw, little Markie poo can’t handle a bit of water?’ Haechan teased, barely managing to restrain his laugh. Mark laughed out loud and swatted the bottle away.

‘Hey that’s not fair!’ Hyuck whined but the smile was evident in his voice. Mark rubbed a hand over his face, shaking the water off of it, and when he opened his eyes they were red and had this dangerous glint in them.

‘Crap.’ Haechan let out, feeling his legs weakening just at the hot sight. 

‘Yeah ‘crap’ Hyuckie.’ Mark mocked, taking a step forward and Haechan finally settled into action, leaping toward the forest.

And then he tripped.

 

– – – – – 

 

‘Tripping and lamentably falling in front of your crush is one of the worst feeling in the universe. Seriously Hyuck? Sounds like a 2011 tweet.’ Nana called from the bedroom after reading his best friend’s last tweet while munching chips and Haechan pocked his head out of the bathroom.

‘Itchust apen, shudup.’ he huffed behind his toothbrush, stepping back into the bathroom. Jaemin burst out laughing and rolled onto the covers, landing on his stomach. He grabbed the controller and began setting the game, choosing Peach as his character.

‘You’re lucky Mark doesn’t follow you! Aish, and hurry or I’m putting you as Donkey Kong.’ he threatened, smirking when the faucet turned off and his best friend re-entered the room, throwing him his wet towel.

‘I dare you to do that.’ Haechan warned, picking up his slippers with his toes and slipping them on. Then, he plopped down on the ground, just under Jaemin, the slightly younger boy hooking his chin over his head automatically. He handed him the controller and Hyuck set himself as Daisy, opening his mouth and humming a thank you when Jaemin poured chips into it. ‘Ah huwry!’

Jaemin hit the top of his skull with the remote. ‘Yah, patiently wait, yeah?’ he said as he finally settled for the rainbow road. Haechan cheered and Jaemin fake grunted, secretly smiling because he obviously choose this road for a reason.

After 15 rounds or so, both boys began feeling bored and switched to watching a drama. In the middle of the episode, Haechan laid his head back onto the mattress and Jaemin looked down at him in wonder.

‘You’re ugly.’ Donghyuck declared. Jaemin snorted and laughed, slapping his face away and Donghyuck laughed too, grabbing chips and resuming his watch as he climbed on the bed next to Jaemin.

Half an hour later, they were at the moment where the heroine and the hero were about to confess, and they couldn’t help but giggle like the fanboys they were, cheering as they rooted for the main character to ‘say it’, and when they finally kissed, Haechan and Jaemin screamed their lungs out, cookies flying everywhere and hot cocoa almost spilling. They quickly hugged – more like, brutally grabbed and shook each other’s shoulders – and Haechan turned back to the TV to watch the ‘post-confession mandatory cute hand in hand walk’ scene. But Nana kept staring at him, burning holes into his skull, and when Donghyuck noticed that, he frowned. And the moment their eyes met, he froze. Jaemin’s gaze was unreadable. Too much going on. Or maybe not enough. It was one of the first time he couldn’t read Jaemin.

And frankly, it scared him.

 

‘You know Hyuck…’ Jaemin suddenly and finally spoke, serious. ‘I don’t wanna give you false hopes or anything but…’

 

He looked up and Haechan raised his brows, waiting for him to continue, anxiously gripping his cookie and smearing crumbles everywhere on the covers. Why did he felt like Jaemin was gonna drop a bomb-

 

‘I think Mark likes you back.’

 

The cookie snapped.

‘Hae?’ Jaemin called out once he saw the frozen and oddly calm state of his friend. Perhaps, he expected a shriek, a scoff, a denial. He actually did- just not that… well, that state.

But when Haechan finally looked back at the beta, all he could bring himself to do was smile, small and wavering, and blush.

‘I…’ he began but stopped himself, biting his lips and feeling his eyes water. ‘I thought of that too?’

‘You did?!’ Jaemin shrieked, eyes wide.

‘Yeah. I may be slow at times, but I’m not blind. I see the way he acts with me. And I thought to myself ‘maybe he does like me back?’. But I don’t know… it’s just seems surreal, like I can’t believe it.’

‘Why? What do you mean?’ his best friend asked with a frown. ‘Why can’t you believe it? You’re amazing Haechan!’

‘Because I’m scared Jaem. Okay? I’m scared. And I’m in love. And that means I’m the biggest coward in the whole fucking universe.’

This statement was one with which Jaemin could relate, and it brought a silence that spoke thousands words.

 

‘And let’s be real here, it’s already hard enough for me to get friends I don’t wanna risk it-’

‘These are excuses Hyuck.’ Jaemin pointed out and Donghyuck bit back a groan. 

‘Maybe it is-’ he conceded, side-glaring at his smug best friend, ‘-but we’re talking about Mark here and he is basically the sweetest boy I’ve ever met. And I have no doubts for sure that he would behave this way with anyone else he was fond of. That doesn’t mean he is in love.’

Jaemin wanted to retort, he really did, but he couldn’t. Mark was the ‘saying no makes me constipated and I’m weak so I say yes every time’ type of person. So he closed his mouth and frowned. How he wished to state that Haechan was wrong, but he couldn’t counter that. He was right.

So why did he kept thinking that he was wrong?

When the first tear rolled down his best friend’s cheek, Jaemin leaped forward and brushed it off immediately, leaving a big black liner stain on the boy’s face.

‘Aigo, aigo, aigo Haechanie, stop crying you’re ugly~’ Nana cooed with an evil fake smile, deep down genuinely worried and wanting to rip Mark’s throat for making his best friend cry. Haechan sniffed and faked threatened him, swatting his hand away.

‘Oh god, shut up. I look like a mess right now. Thanks hoe.’ he pointed out with fake annoyance, fanning his eyes.

‘A hot mess.’ Jaemin corrected and Haechan smiled.

‘Always.’ he chimed, flipping his imaginary hair over his shoulder L’Oreal style. They both erupted in a giggling fit and Donghyuck blinked the remaining tears away. ‘Oh god, I hate you Na Jaemin for making me so emotional these days.’

‘You’re welcome~’ Jaemin chirped, winking.

 

Suddenly, the door opened.

‘Hyuck, you have some friends standing outside the house-’ Doyoung looked up from his phone and when he saw the scene in front of him immediately put it back into his pocket, gaze hardening and stance protective. ‘Should I scare them away or?’

‘No… or at least, I don’t think so?’ Haechan answered in confusion, wiping the coal trails on his cheeks with the back of his hand in embarrassment at being caught in that state, to no avail. ‘Who are they?’ he asked, finally giving up on his task, because who the fuck in their right minds would come here at midnight?

Doyoung relaxed and grabbed his phone back from his pocket, leaning on the door frame. ‘Some Chinese kids and a way too tall kid and Jeno.’

Donghyuck looked up at Jaemin with wide eyes. In no time, they were scrambling up and by the window sill.

‘What the fuck are these idiots doing here?’ Jaemin deadpanned, eyeing his newfound pack and mates in confusion.

‘I don’t know but why don’t we go greet them?’ Donghyuck offered, seeing the way Nana’s eyes cutely lit up when they fell on his mates. But Jaemin quickly shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

‘No. It’s not my fault if they can’t stand not seeing my beautiful face for one night. This is our night and it has been for years. So they’ll go back home while we finish Playful Kiss.’

Haechan raised a brow, clearly unimpressed and Jaemin faltered.

‘You so want to see them.’ 

‘I so want to see them.’

‘Quickly get your ass downstairs.’

 

– 

 

‘Nana!’ Noren yelled, rushing toward their mate at the speed of the lightning the moment he stepped outside, peppering him with kisses and hugs as they began to inspect him worriedly – a sight to which Chensung grimaced and gagged by their seat on the sidewalk. Haechan leaned on his threshold's pillar and raised a brow, mentally judging them too.

‘You’re okay? We felt pain through our bond!’ Renjun explained, wrapping an arm around his mate’s waist and looking at him in worry.

‘Yeah, did Haechan hurt you?’ Jeno asked, eyeing the aforementioned boy suspiciously as he brushed a hand against his mate jaw, and Haechan raised his hands in innocence.

Jaemin blinked for a moment and then smiled apologetically. He quickly leaned forward and captured Renjun’s lips between his own. Donghyuck’s jaw fell and Chensung gagged at the sight and Renjun sighed in content, leaning back and pressing their foreheads together.

‘You’re both so stupid.’ Jaemin declared in a whisper, chuckling at Renjun’s pout and Jeno’s ‘hey’. ‘I’m okay- and Jeno stop glaring at Haechan, he is the sad hoe.’

At that, Jeno went from wary wolf to sad puppy real quick, eyeing Haechan like he was in a hospital bed, making Chensung facepalm, hard. The two youngest were clearly reconsidering their friendship choices. Maybe he should too… nah, too much of a hassle.

He raised his eyes from his nails to glare at Jaemin. ‘Traitor.’ he mouthed and Jaemin winked. However, when he saw that even Chensung were looking away from their phones to stare at him in worry, he smiled fondly. ‘He’s lying. I’m all good guys, he’s the one who needs hugs and kisses after crying like a baby in front of Playful Kiss.’

Nana yelled at him to shut up, pouting and blushing at the betrayal, but Renjun quickly hugged him to comfort him – though Haechan could see him biting his lips to refrain from laughing.

Chensung glanced at him one last time, looking unconvinced, but reluctantly returned to their phones. However, Jeno actually took a good look at the boy he was considering his brother. And what he saw made him frown. This big smear of eyeliner – which was obviously caused by tears – was visible on his cheek amidst his failed attempts to wipe it off, and his eyes were puffy and red and even a bit tired if you were to ask him. And Jeno knew his little brother well enough to guess why he was crying.

Jaemin finally noticed that Jeno had figured it out and gently took hold of his jaw, angling his head toward him. He rubbed his thumb against it, shaking his head slightly. Jeno sighed and looked down, his scent souring for he was sad. Renjun felt that and looped his free arm against his waist, laying his head in the crook of his neck, and Jaemin left a kiss on the corner of his lips to ease him.

Haechan saw the sweet moment and smiled to himself, looking to the side to leave them a bit of intimacy.

But the moment he did, his eyes met Mark’s.

And he felt his insides drop and his heart miss a beat. The boy was getting down from his motorcycle, arms crossed and frowning. And before Haechan could ponder on how in the world he did not hear the bike arrive or why the fuck Mark was here, the alpha was already walking straight toward him.

Haechan gulped and stood up straight, hurriedly wiping his cheek with his sweater paw – he didn’t know why he felt the urge to do so – but before he could attack his skin even more, gentle fingers grasped his fist and pried it away from his face.

Shit.

 

‘What happened…’ Mark let out, eyes wide and mouth hanging open, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. God, Hyuck was so embarrassed to be in this state in front of Mark – he looked like the fucking Matchmaker in Mulan!

 

‘What? Don’t like my new makeup?’ he tried to joke but it fell lamely between them and he bit a curse back, looking down. It was so embarrassing.

‘Hyuck…’

‘It’s a new trend…’ he muttered, cursing and this close to slapping himself. He wouldn’t be surprised if Mark returned to his motorcycle and left, but it’s Mark we are talking about here, the Mark Lee that came from god knows where dressed in blue pajamas shorts and hoodie and bed hair- and god, why must he be so damn beautiful even when he was supposed to look like shit? Heck, even his messy seagull eyebrows looked freaking beautiful tonight. ‘Where were you?’ he asked instead, knowing Mark wasn’t coming from his home- they were neighbor, Mark wouldn’t take his bike to come see him.

‘I was at my cousin’s.’ he explained, hand still holding Donghyuck’s closed fist under the sweater paw. Oh, that explained why the bike was out. His cousin lived two minutes away from their neighborhood by car, but his house was on the hill side so no wonder why Mark used it instead of walking.

‘Ah. How’s Johnny?’ he wondered, half because he was really wondering how the older boy was after all these years and half because he desperately wanted to change the subject.

‘He’s good.’ Mark answered curtly and Haechan could feel his eyes burn holes on his face, but he refused to look at the older boy. Because, for once, his brain couldn’t come up with a proper excuse as to why he was a mess. And for the first time in forever, Haechan would give everything for Mark to let go of his hand so that he could run inside his house, hug his pillow, scream, eat a thousands mouthfuls of bingsu and never leave his room again- and listen to EXO and Red Velvet on and on and on, because why not. 

‘Why are you here?’ Donghyuck asked genuinely curious, finally cutting the heavy silence hanging in the air, hand finally moving to escape the older’s hold.

‘I came for you.’ he confessed and Haechan froze.

‘Don’t say stuffs like that Mark.’ he laughed as he resumed his move. How he wished Mark could stop making his heart do somersaults. But Mark grabbed his hand tighter. Haechan gulped and stilled. How he wished Mark could keep making his heart doing somersaults.

‘Why not? It’s the truth.’ the older explained frowning, searching for Haechan’s eyes, but the younger still refused to look at him.

So he snapped.

His free hand reached out and grabbed his wrist, and he tugged him toward his motorcycle. Haechan stared at his back in shock, not comprehending a thing that was happening. Because, yes, Mark snapped again, but this time it was different. It wasn’t to force him, he could feel it, it was… what was it for? Before he could ponder on it, Mark went on: ‘Jisung texted me saying you cried.’

Haechan cursed, side-glaring at their youngest friend. Jisung Pwark was a rat. He will have a talk with him tomorrow. He made to look down, but Mark tugged again, effectively forcing him to raise his head, and a helmet was slipped on it. A shiver ran down his spine. Mark was basically in alpha mode. But this time, it was different…

‘Care to tell me why?’ the older demanded, softer this time, fingers gently securing the straps, and that’s when Haechan realized.

 

Mark came all the way here because he cried.

 

He was looking at him with so much fear and worry in the eyes – it was so obvious now. Mark was worried. And it was overwhelming. Yet, his nerves calmed down at the thought and he couldn’t help the way his heart beat quicker. Nor the growing hope in it…

‘Just a sad drama Mark, really. It’s nothing, you shouldn’t have bothered.’ he muttered, blushing and weakly chuckling – and of course, internally purring at Mark’s care and protectiveness.

Mark frowned harder, obviously not buying his excuse and if Haechan wasn’t so exhausted he would have believed in seeing the flash of hurt crossing his eyes. With a sigh, the alpha moved on his bike, gesturing for Haechan to do the same. Hyuck did and wrapped his arm around his middle, head nuzzling his shoulder blades. He was in for a long ride…

With a last glance backward at him, Mark took off, leaving behind himself a trail of smoke.

 

Watching from afar, Jaemin smiled. Now, he knew.

 

He finally knew why Haechan was wrong.

 

– – – – – 

 

‘Why won’t you tell me the truth Hyuck…’

Mark’s mutter echoed in the silent night and Hyuck stopped munching on his macadamia ice cream. He glanced up from his spot on the sidewalk at Mark. The boy had taken away for a fifteen minutes long drive and had stopped by Baskin Robbins to get them ice cream. Then, he drove a bit more to this bridge on the city’s outskirts overlooking the river. They were eating peacefully for a while, and Donghyuck had hoped Mark wouldn’t question his behavior further, but of course, Mark was Mark. He had to know.

Currently, he was leaning against the railing, looking at the river and munching on his melted chocolate ice cream, sighing through his nostrils and contracting his jaw, scent considerably souring.

Donghyuck’s eyes widened. So he didn’t dream it. Mark was indeed hurt by his lie.

Guilt crept into his stomach because friends shouldn’t lie to each other. But he had no choice, he hoped the older would understand that – because he was not ready yet to confess.

‘Really Mark, if I could tell you I would.’ he declared truthfully, standing up to go next to him and ignoring the pang in his chest when Mark’s face broke into pure hurt as he looked at him.

 

‘Don’t you trust me anymore?’

 

The weakness in his voice and the horror on his face made Donghyuck feel like shit, reminded too quickly of Mark’s insecurities that were brought up during their micro fight. So he quickly threw his cup on the ground and wrapped his arms around the alpha, holding him tight. God, if there was one thing he wanted to prevent it was hurting Mark or making him feel unworthy!

‘Oh my god, no, of course no! I trust you with all my heart Mark, never doubt it please.’ he asked, voice filling with hurt too, and when Mark sighed and wrapped his arms around him too, he continued, ‘I’ll tell you when I’m ready. I promise you I will. Just give me time okay? I promise.’

When he had no answers, he bit his lips and hugged him tighter, burying his head into his neck. Mark trusted him enough to show him his weak side, which he would be forever thankful for, so the least he could do was do his best to reassure him. ‘Don’t you trust me?’ he was the one to ask this time, nails scrapping against Mark’s hood in worry as he starred at the moon above. But when Mark hugged him tighter too, the worry vanished and he relaxed, already having his answer.

‘Yeah. Of course I trust you Hyuckie, what kind of question is that. But I hate it when you hide things from me… or when you hurt.’ he confessed, nose bumping into the younger’s neck, causing him to start.

Okay, that was so intimate and unexpected, Haechan was not ready. But now was not the time to dwell on it. He had a kicked puppy like alpha to take care of first.

‘I am not hurt Mark, really. Jaemin and I just got a bit emotional.’ he confessed, blushing and biting his lower lip as he remembered their talk. Mark visibly relaxed in his hold, so he went on: ‘And I hate hiding things from you too.’ he sighed, closing his eyes and breathing in the relaxing and warm scent of fresh grass and mint emanating from the older. He smiled. ‘I promise I’ll tell you why when I’m ready. I promise.’

Mark wrapped his arms tighter – if possible – around him, literally crushing him against his torso, and Haechan swore it never felt so good to be crushed. He wished he could stay like this forever and ever. Was he masochist? Then again, every people in love were a bit masochistic, weren’t they?

‘Alright. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pried, you should tell me things when you’re ready. I’m sorry.’

Haechan chuckled at Mark’s statement. He could hear the pout in his voice. So he shook his head slowly, fingers gripping Mark’s hoodie tight till his knuckles turned white, gaze now cast over the river and the thousands of stars and city lights reflecting in it.

‘Don’t.’ he simply said, unable to say more without selling himself, opting instead to bit his lip to hold back a smile. Mark only breathed in his scent, and that simple action made his legs weak. He was never so thankful for the strength with which the older was holding him or else he would have collapsed into a puddle on the floor. Mark was so freaking cute and loveable, he was about to collapse.

Air was blown in their direction and Haechan jumped on the spot, glaring at the car rolling by at the speed of lightning. Way to break a moment.

But when he leaned back and attempted to smile at Mark, he internally cursed. Mark still looked like a kicked puppy and kept looking at the ground.

‘Seriously…’ he let out in a breath, mentally having a battle with himself, and cursed in his head when he lost it, biting his lower lip in frustration. Well, if there was no other choice to make Mark happy again…

With no second thoughts, he willingly bared his neck.

Mark froze.

Haechan internally winced. Why wasn’t Mark reacting? Was it uncalled for?

Embarrassed, he began to straighten up, cursing himself internally for his stupidity. ‘Sorr-’

 

‘Sun.’

 

The growl, dangerously close to his ear and defying him to move further, hung in the air and Haechan stopped moving right away, eyes wide and cheeks burning. A hand crept up his jaw, softly cradling it as he tilted it. And soon a nose nuzzled the crook of his neck.

And just like that Haechan relaxed again, knowing he did the right thing to appease and reassure Mark.

The alpha sighed in appreciation and relief against his skin, loosely wrapping an arm around him once more. Haechan was perplexed between wanting to melt into his embrace and kick his balls for making him sound like a weak damsel in distress.

‘You’re really silly Mark Lee.’ he mumbled weakly instead, too busy trying not to impersonate a living tomato.

‘Shut up Lee Donghyuck.’ Mark mumbled against his neck, chuckling at his words. Haechan relaxed at the sound, the tension in his shoulder finally disappearing.

‘No ‘fucktard’ tonight?’ he teased, earning himself a whack on the scalp.

‘Nah. You’d love it too much.’

‘Touché.’ he admitted and, feeling Mark’s smile against his skin, he couldn’t help the one growing on his face nor warmth settling in his heart.

And when he looked up at the moon he thought, who knows what they’ll end up being? Heck, who cares? For now, he was happy with what they had.

 

– – – – – 

 

‘-and so I went to Jungwoo and said ‘I like you. I’m gonna court you and you’ll see, there’s no better alpha than me.’’

Haechan stopped dead in his track in the hallway, a bewildered smile on his face as he gasped.

‘You what?’ he shrieked again, clutching his books tighter against his chest as he doubled over, laughing his heart out. ‘Oh lord, Xuxi I’m so proud of you! That’s how you’re supposed to use your alpha confidence man! You’re amazing, never change.’

It was six thirty in the afternoon on a Friday but Donghyuck swore he never felt more awake.

Lucas chuckled, smiling brightly at the younger, the two of them resuming their walk.

‘Like seriously man wow.’ Haechan exclaimed again. ‘It pains me to say this, but you’re a real boss here.’

‘I know~’ he grinned proudly but then rubbed his nape sheepishly. ‘Do you think Jungwoo thinks that too?’

Haechan rolled his eyes.

‘Oh my god, forget it you’re stupid. So, and after?’ he asked instead, excitedly. ‘What did he say?’

‘He just said ‘okay’- oh, and that I was cute, ah!’ he yelled overjoyed, throwing his arms around like he was some sort of champion – which he was in a way because Haechan would never have the guts to do that. He chuckled and patted his shoulders.

‘Okay calm down here Captain Yu Si Jin before you hit someone.’ he teased and Xuxi looked at him perplexed.

‘Captain who?’

‘Heol.’ he facepalmed, not believing what he just heard. ‘Yu Si Jin, Xuxi! The main lead in Descendant of the Sun!’

Lucas clapped his hands together and understanding crawled over his face. ‘Oh, yeah I know! But shouldn’t Yu Si Jin be you?’ he questioned, tilting his head to the side with a pensive look.

Haechan froze.

‘Why would you say that?’

‘Well, you know, the way he tries to seduce the girl and make her fall in love with him- or maybe you are the surgeon? Ah, I don’t know-’

Haechan stopped in his track suddenly, too quickly remembering yesterday’s events. Fuming and glaring at the older, he hit his shoulder with his book while he stomped angrily on the spot. Xuxi yelped and cowered away from him. ‘Y-yah! Who said I’m in love with Mark?!’ Haechan huffed, scoffing dramatically as he hugged his books again and walked away – more like stomped away – with flaming cheeks to exit the school.

 

Lucas blinked at him, frozen on the spot.

‘I never talked about Mark though.’ he pointed out, confused and head tilting as he looked at Haechan’s retreating figure.

‘I know right? Hyuck still believes he is hiding his feelings well, but I mean even Jeno figured it out, so…’ a voice declared with a tsk on his right, and he shrieked, clutching his heart.

‘Oh my god! Nana you scared me!’

Jaemin side eyed him with a judging look. ‘Aye, aye, aye, stop being so dramatic Xuxi.’ he tsked again, shaking his head.

Xuxi pouted and said ‘Me no drama queen.’

Nana chuckled at that and offered him a grin. ‘Now I know why Jungwoo loves you. You’ll make a great couple.’

He patted his shoulder and resumed his walk, searching for his best friend in the crowd.

Lucas blinked.

 

‘Jungwoo loves me?!’ he shrieked, scaring half the students in the hallway.

 

– – – – – 

 

‘I wAna bE a BiliOnaIre so freakIng bAAAAd-’

 

That’s it.

Haechan closed his Nintendo, kicked his foot off the coffee table, and opened the school common room’s window.

‘SHUT THE FUCK UP MARK MINHYUNG LEE, I’M TRYING TO FEED COCO IN PEACE BUT I CAN’T BECAUSE YOU INSIST ON SHOWCASING YOUR SUBLIME VOCALS TO THE WHOLE SCHOOL, WELL, FLASH NEWS: THEY ARE SUBLIME BUT NOT AT EIGHT IN THE MORNING NOR WHEN YOU’RE SO FOCUSED ON YOUR GAME THAT YOU DON’T EVEN REALIZE HOW OFF-TUNE YOU ARE!’

He breathed out, chest heaving as he clutched on his window’s handle and looked up to glare at Mark. The boy had his hand frozen mid-air above his guitar – aka the one he borrowed from their music department – one earbud hanging lamely on his neck as he looked up at him with wide eyes from his seat on a bench a few meters down on the left of their school’s courtyard.

‘Hello to you too Hyuckie?’ Mark offered, looking like a clueless fish and unsure, and Haechan wanted to facepalm. The day started bad because their teacher was absent and he came to school early for nothing, and now Mark was offering him a karaoke session. He groaned and leaned on his frame, observing Mark fixing his guitar like Haechan didn’t even yell at him to shut up five seconds ago, a watermelon pepero hanging from between his lips and muttering ‘It wasn’t that bad…’

The younger rolled his eyes. ‘Trust me, you’re lucky there’s no kid in this school or they’ll have hated you their whole life for traumatizing their childhood.’

Mark sent him a betrayed look and the omega rolled his eyes, yawning. ‘Whatever. I’m going back to feed Coco, just try not to get detention.’

He shut the room’s window and went back to his game. Only to see that his Nintendo only had 10% left. Cursing, he quickly saved his game and shut the device, texting Renjun to bring him back his battery on Monday (he had forgotten it at his place during their sleepover last Thursday). Flicking his phone back in his pocket, he looked around the room, bored as hell. School was coming to an end so he could always do some revising but that was a strict no for obvious reasons. He then mulled over reading a webtoon or buying himself a tea, when Mark’s voice suddenly interrupted the silence once more.

‘Definitely tea.’ he mumbled under his breath, heading to the vending machine.

 

– 

 

‘And here I thought you were good at everything dickhead, you surely are full of surprise~’

Mark, now sitting on the grass and leaning against the bench, stopped singing and raised his head to see Haechan walking toward him, and said boy cursed internally. If he was planning on seducing Mark, it was not going to happen with his current look. Yet, he approached the bench with a small smile – willingly ignoring his disheveled hair and the dark rings under his eyes (mentally reassuring himself that the hoodie to hide most of it).

‘I do remember you saying my voice was sublime.’ Mark, who didn’t even seem bothered by the fact that Donghyuck basically interrupted his song, pointed out with a smirk and Haechan smirked back as he sat down next to him and handed him a cup of tea.

‘Here.’ he said as Mark grabbed it and nodded gratefully. As the older boy took a sip of his tea, Haechan glanced at the guitar curiously. ‘And I did remember saying that it’s not the case when you’re so focused on playing this thing right.’ he corrected, pointing at it. Mark smiled behind his cup and flipped him the bird and Haechan clutched his heart in fake hurt. The older giggled – this adorable giggle once again – and Haechan drummed his fingers against his cup. ‘That being said, maybe I could sing for you while you play your guitar?’

Mark looked up at the suggestion, eyes shinning in both surprise and joy. ‘You would-’

‘Of course, that would be all for the sake of our beloved classmates who we don’t want ending up deaf before they turn forty and absolutely not because I wanna sing with you.’ he interrupted, leaning his head on his palm and cocking it. Mark blinked and then flushed, and shoved him on the ground.

‘Oh fuck off Hyuck.’

‘Aw~ Is Markie Poo ashamed?’ he teased sitting back up and Mark chuckled, elbowing him.

‘No, I’m not. You’re really a fucktard Hyuck, you know that?’ Mark sighed exasperatedly, but he was smiling so Haechan grinned and drank a sip of his own tea.

‘No but seriously, I’ll sing. Like when we were kids.’ he declared as he whispered the last part, looking absentmindedly at the trees in front of them. They were pretty, some tall, some bright green. Their school was really nice, small but next to the forest, trees here and there on the side the forest border, and on the other side was the outskirts of the city – a lovely and calm place for wolves and their kids. Mark and him grew up knowing they would be going to that school.

‘Yeah… like when we were kids.’ Mark echoed his words, smiling at the gray blueish sky. They were in summer, school was about to end, but it seemed like the Sun was hiding in favor of showcasing summer rain over their town these days. Not that Mark seemed to mind since it was something he liked, but while Haechan didn’t mind it too he definitely preferred the Sun.

Strings being played cut his thoughts and he hummed the familiar melody. Mark stopped and looked up in surprise right away. ‘You know it?’

Haechan snorted with a smile. ‘Silly, of course I do. You basically played it everyday for one year, trying to find the perfect chords. I bet that everyone who lived here at that time still know it today.’

Mark blushed and ducked his head, rubbing his nape sheepishly. ‘And… and did you like it?’

Haechan raised his brows and nodded. ‘Yes it’s really good.’

‘R-really?! You mean it?’ Mark exclaimed with a bright grin and Haechan smirked, nudging him with his shoulder. What a dork…

‘Of course. I may be an asshole but when something’s good I praise it.’ he explained, nodding and turning his head to glance at Mark who still looked like a bright puppy. ‘Though… enjoy it while you can because I ain’t saying it twice.’ he muttered with a bigger smirk and Mark blinked, but once the words reached his brain he smirked back, just as big.

‘We’ll see about that Hyuckie.’

Haechan laughed and shook his head, sipping his tea. Yeah, Mark was really endearing. ‘Say, did you name it?’

‘Huh? Ah no, not yet. Because I don’t have the lyrics.’ he justified himself quickly when Haechan raised a brow.

‘Call it ‘I like me better when I’m with you’ then.’ the omega declared and Mark blinked.

‘Why would I call it that? I don’t even know what the song is about.’ he wondered out loud but warily scooted away when Haechan grinned sheepishly, eyes turning in half-moons as he brought his hands under his chin. ‘What?’ he asked warily and slowly.

‘I used to sing to it when you first played it – only till the chorus – and that’s the first sentence that came up to me back then~’ he declared, blinking his eyes innocently, mentally praying that Mark won’t beat his ass for inventing lyrics for his song.

‘You… you what?’ Mark gaped and Haechan mentally winced. Here came is rough beating – and to say he swore to never let Mark’s foot near his butt again! Well, he deserved that one so he guessed he would have to make an exception… or maybe the power of cuteness could work his way out of the alpha’s wrath?

‘Yeahhhhh…’ he began, chuckling nervously and batting his eyelashes quickly in the hope of easing Mark’s anger. ‘You played it so often that the lyrics just came up and I couldn’t help it-’

‘Sing-’

‘Don’t hit me, I made you tea dickhead!’

‘-for me.’

Oh.

‘What?’ he asked again, blinking at the older.

‘Sing for me.’ The words went straight through his skull and he blinked. Was Mark serious? He looked up at Mark as if he’d grown two heads but the boy was already readying his guitar. ‘You said till the chorus, yeah?’ he asked, barely glancing up quickly at the younger who only nodded, looking at him in a daze.

‘You’re not angry?’ he blurted out and Mark raised a brow.

‘Why would I be? Dude,’ he began as he hoisted his guitar on his laps, fingers finding themselves in the right spots, bracelets crinkling in the process, ‘I’ve been trying to come up with lyrics for years but nothing. You’re part could actually help.’

Haechan nodded slowly and readied himself, trying not let his cheeks flush. Now, he was confident about his singing abilities, but Mark was his friend and crush and had never heard him sing before.

To say he was nervous was an understatement.

‘To be young and in love in New York city…’ he began, voice echoing in the air melodiously. He kept on going, voice echoing softly in the air. ‘I like me… I like me better when I’m with you.’ he ended the chorus and let out a breath when it was done, gulping his tea eagerly. Damn, he was usually confident in his singing abilities, but singing in front of Mark was one hell of a moment.

‘Wow Hyuck… the fuck.’ Mark let out and Haechan winced.

‘It’s eight in the morning, okay. I know my voice is not the best-’ he cut himself when he saw the way Mark looked at him. In pure awe. Mark was looking at him in pure awe.

‘No the best?! Are you kidding? Sun it was awesome!’ he let out, smiling like an idiot and Haechan relaxed visibly, smiling too, cheeks heating up at the nickname.

‘Thanks.’ he simply said.

‘I mean it, really. Wow your voice is beyond words Hyuck.’ he admitted softly and Haechan fiddled with the grass, blushing.

‘Th-thanks. I guess you’re not too bad with your guitar too.’ he admitted, eyes squinting when a flash of silver entered his view. Blinking, he recognized it as one of Mark’s bracelet. Peering curiously, he froze when a hand crept closer to his own, fingers miming two legs walking in the grass. Haechan bit his lips to refrain a smile as he watched the two digits creep forward on the mud, and let go of the twigs he was playing with to creep forward too, miming two legs walking as well. Mark’s fingers came to a stop but Haechan went on, until his own were only one centimeter apart from the alpha’s ones.

It was Mark who closed the distance, intertwining their two pairs of fingers.

‘Gosh, you’re such a child.’ Haechan stated but still squeezed the fingers in between his own.

‘Says you.’ Mark retort.

‘Says me.’ Haechan chuckled in agreement and Mark suddenly tugged their intertwined fingers up.

‘Do you want me to teach you?’ he offered with a small smile.

Haechan raised a brow. ‘Kinky much?’

Mark groaned and rolled his eyes, ears flushing. ‘Shut up. Teach you the guitar I mean.’

Haechan laughed and scooted closer. ‘I know, loosen up Markie Poo Saint of all Alphas. And yes I’d love to.’

He sat himself even more closer, ignoring the way their shoulders were pressed together – we’ve been closer, all will be good Lee Donghyuck, he told himself – and set his cup on the grass. The neck of the guitar was now in front of his stomach so, holding his hands up, he asked, ‘How does this work?’

Mark grabbed their intertwined hands and set them down, reaching over instead to take his other. ‘Well, first of all you’ll only need this one for today.’

Haechan’s head perked up at that. For today? Does that mean there’ll be other days? But he couldn’t dwell on that thought further for Mark brought his hand to the guitar’s neck, shifting the instrument so that it’ll lay closer to Donghyuck. Reaching behind Hyuck with his arm, he shifted a bit so that his torso touched the younger’s shoulder, and encircled him of his arm to cup his left hand over the guitar. Donghyuck focused on controlling his body and scent so as to not let the older know of how affected by the proximity he was. But when Mark’s hand parted his fingers and positioned them over the strings, gently so as to not hurt him but firmly and expertly to let Hyuck know that he was the one in control here, well, he couldn’t help the shiver that ran through his spine nor the way his heart quickened or his omega purred.

‘Here.’ Mark’s husky voice was so close to his ear, closer than it had ever been, the lips almost brushing its shell. Gripping the grass tightly with his free hand, he willed his shoulder to relax and nodded weakly.

‘And after?’ he asked in a whisper, angling his head slightly to the right and gulping when he saw Mark looking at him intently from the corner of his eyes.

‘After,’ his fingers pressed the omega’s own against the chords, ‘you press. And then,’ the older brought his own left hand to the guitar and strum it, the first sound immediately recognized by the younger as the beginning of ‘I like me better’ chorus. ‘I strum.’

Haechan’s fingers let go of the strings, hovering over them. ‘And then?’ he whispered, shivering when the warm hand enclosed his cold one once again.

‘Then you put your fingers here.’ he answered quietly, bringing Haechan’s fingers over different strings. ‘Just like that.’

And he strum again.

Haechan opened his mouth in awe at the sound. ‘Wow…’

Mark smiled down at him, nose brushing against Haechan’s hood as he looked at him. ‘You did it.’

‘We did it.’ Haechan corrected in a breath, still in awe but slowly coming back to his senses when he felt Mark’s hand squeeze his own gently, and he realized that he was still cupping his hand.

Fingers twitching, he gulped, images replaying in his head of the time when Mark held him during his heat, the way he held his hand that night on the porch, the way he held him close when defending him, the way he hugged him in apology, and now, the way he was cupping his hand over the strings, powerful and firm, but not overbearing- respectful. Haechan frowned. Mark was always respectful, so why did it feel different right now?

And then it him.

All the moments and the talk with Jaemin and Mr. Park came back into his head and it hit him, like a tidal wave.

How could he have been so obvious…

Mark. Mark was proving himself to Donghyuck. Proving him that he was a good pack leader, offering him to be his pack leader. And probably offering more.

And suddenly, he was overwhelmed and froze, but then slumped, only to freeze again once his shoulder blade came in contact with Mark’s torso, tried to move his hand away but only to put it back into Mark’s hold the moment Mark made to let go. Respectful. Offering. Proving.

Haechan turned into Mark’s hold, facing him and looking up slightly. And one look in Mark’s beautiful dark orbs and he knew. And as always, he felt himself drowning in, and to his surprise, drowning in even more than the times when Mark had them red. Because, here, looking at him wasn’t the alpha, but Mark, genuine, honest and real and dork and hot and cute and just simple Mark. The question burned at the back of his throat, the single word ‘why’ feeling like sand in his mouth as he stared helplessly at the man before him. So many whys to ask, and yet none he could bring himself to actually ask. Because it felt too surreal, because it was so real, and because they wanted it.

The first droplet hit his nose.

And Haechan blinked, breaking of this suffocating and overwhelming trance, eyes squinting and gulping air shakily as he frowned when another hit his eyelashes, completely obvious to the way Mark’s eyes lingered on each droplets, gaze unreadable but so full of many things left unsaid and menacing to break through at the first green light.

‘What the…’ the younger whispered when another clear but warm drop hit his left cheekbone. But then it finally reached his brain and he gasped, startling the older out of his trance, their eyes finding each other’s as Haechan grinned fondly.

‘It’s summer rain Mark.’

And Haechan’s eyes softened fondly when he saw Mark beginning to get drench in said rain, each droplet looking beautiful on him, and Haechan knew then that Mark was made to be under summer rain. And couldn’t help but wonder how his wolf form would look under that rain. Would it belong that much? Or was Mark’s human form the only part of him that rhymed with summer rain?

His thoughts were interrupted when his left hand began to feel wet, the warmth shielding it from the droplets of water now gone as Mark began to raise on his feet. ‘We should go inside, you’re going to catch a co-’

 

‘Let’s go for a run.’

 

The words were out before his brain proceeded it, and he had to refrain from blushing at their implication. Under normal circumstances he would have been embarrassed to ask for something like that when they were not pack yet, but right now? He couldn’t bring himself to care.

Mark frowned and reached his hand out for Haechan to take. ‘What are you- it’s too rainy to go for a jog-’

‘No Mark. Let’s run.’ Mark froze in his movement, eyes widening slightly at the realization of what Hyuck wanted and what he was offering. But then, he was extending his hand, hesitantly settling it over the younger’s extended own. ‘You’re sure?’

The whisper was so quiet that he almost didn’t catch it under the heavy pouring of the rain and its pit-a-pat on the pavement. But he did.

‘Yes.’ he closed his eyes and pushed himself up, hood falling from his hair along the way when Mark helped him up. When he was fully standing, he opened his eyelids and looked at him straight in the eyes. He could feel his own wanting to switch into their orange golden color but he willed himself not to. Because it would mean he would say yes. Yes to so much. And even though he was sure right now of Mark’s offer, he wanted to give himself some time to just… be surer.

And maybe Mark saw the slight shift in his eyes, maybe he didn’t and just followed his own heart, but he didn’t hesitate twice to reach out to tuck a strand of wet hair sticking on one of his lash away. And Haechan was sure this time, when he affirmed that Mark’s fingers lingered longer than ‘friendly’ appropriate, the bracelets on his wrist brushing and cooling his heated cheek.

This time, he knew not to label it behind the word friend. And it all felt surreal.

‘Alright.’

And that simple word, that simple agreement made pride and joy explode in his chest and he didn't-couldn't fight the grin off his face. And Mark seemed to be happy with it, smiling too as he retracted his hand to his side.

 

– – – – – 

 

They ran past trees, the rain and wind slapping their faces, the mud splattering on the skin of their feet and jeans, their laughter echoing in the vast area.

‘Slow down Hyuck!’

‘You’re just too slow, grandpa!’

‘Grandp- I’ll show you the grandpa!’

Mark’s statement was followed by a growl that made Haechan gulp and accelerate but couldn’t even begin to erase the grin from his face. Though he was proud of his speed in both human and wold form, he knew that he was no match for the older – not because he was supposedly biologically stronger and faster than him, no, as he’d seen plenty of alphas slower than him, but because Mark had always been a fast runner, even before he presented. And he was proven right when Mark caught up and dived past him, only looking back to taunt him. Haechan growled in fake annoyance and sped up, but Mark was already in the clearing howling in victory, and he cursed because fuck Mark Minhyung Lee and his ability to always irk him.

 

Reaching the clearing too, he slowed down and took in the sight before him. He was left gaping at the beauty of the purple myosotis and blue heliotropes, wet and vivid in the field, reaching the middle of his calves. His heart thumped slower and warmth settled in his stomach at the stray thought that Mark allowed him in his territory once more when he had yet to give a proper answer.

A warmth crept closer to his side and he turned his head to the left, eyes falling on the alpha. Mark was beautiful, drench in rain, pale skin glowing under it, messy black hair stuck on his forehead, white shirt sticking on his fit torso and broad shoulders, bracelets sticking to the skin of his wrist, brown eyes so deep but shining, dark circles under his eyes a pale purple against his fair skin, the small scar by his eyebrow marked more with the water trailing down his profile, same going on for the small imperfections by his chin and cheeks. And yet, they made Mark utter perfection.

Mark nodded toward him slightly, eyes unsure but hopping, asking for permission. Haechan smiled slightly and nodded, turning away from him.

He could feel Mark’s eyes on his back for a moment, but then he heard him move and guessed he turned around too, so he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. With that, he tugged off his hoodie – Nana’s birthday present that he wasn’t going to let be ripped apart – and the rest of his clothes, hearing Mark do the same, albeit faster. Maybe it was because the older was used to it since he was in a pack and all, but Haechan was uneasy about what they were about to do. Beside Nana, no one had seen him like that before.

But that was Mark. His hand crept to his crescent birthmark. And he trusted Mark.

With these thoughts he closed his eyes, feeling them turn a gorgeous golden orange beneath his eyelids and then, he shifted.

The crack of his bones lasted barely one second and when he opened his eyes again he was on all four and standing on paws. Letting out a puff of air, he shook his now wet deep wine colored fur and went to turn around. But his paws froze on the grass.

What if Mark didn’t like what he saw?

Then Mark isn’t worth it and blind coz honey you’re beautiful. That was his immediate answer, and he felt his confidence came back at once. Turning around with a flick of his tail, he held himself high for he was lean and tall for an omega, and let his eyes fall on Mark.

His throat ran dry.

Mark was… simply stunning.

If Donghyuck was in human form he would have gaped; Mark was a large and tall wolf, obviously strong, and his fur was raven black. To his surprise, his front left paw was still covered with the many bracelets he wore as a human, all tighter around it but still lose enough that it didn’t hurt him – Haechan realized that his older friend was intelligent enough to choose bracelets that were stretchable enough so that he never had to take them off, and that fueled his curiosity even more.

He looked like the wolf Haechan drew.

Looking up, he frowned however; the scar he got when they were playing soccer as kids by his eyebrow was still here, larger. As a human it was tiny and would go unnoticed if you didn’t stare long enough, but as a wolf it was clearly visible. And he felt guilt crept in his stomach.

Shifting sad eyes to the one’s of the alpha in apology, he almost whined. But then all anxiety left him. Mark was looking at him with the same intensity he used when they were in their human forms. So he decided to move forward, taking a few tentative steps to reach him. Haechan knew that it was always easier for alphas to control themselves while in human forms rather than wolf ones, so he didn’t want to risk it and anger Mark by looking like he was defying him.

But when Mark stayed put and whined, nudging his head forward to beckon Donghyuck closer, the omega came running and nuzzled the side of his jaw, whining in apology. Mark nuzzled the side of his jaw to show him it was okay, there was nothing to forgive, and Haechan visibly relaxed.

Still, he angled up his snout and licked a strip across the scar, gently so as to show he was not here to hurt him. Mark stilled for a moment but closed his eyes and softly nipped his childhood friend’s ear in appreciation. The omega felt his heart quicken at the gesture, usually reserved for pack members, and allowed himself to bath into it a bit more. But when Mark playfully bit it, Haechan growled and gently hit his front with his head, and slowly stepped back. Then, a wolfish grin appeared on his lips and he looked up at Mark with bright, eager eyes, bouncing on his paws.

Realization dawned on the older and he let out a sound that would have been a sheepish noise had he been in his human form, bouncing on his paws too. And when Haechan saw that, he lose no time and dashed forward at an incredible and surprising speed for an omega.

Running, summer rain tickling his snout and claws digging into mud, he felt a bubble of warmth surround his heart, spreading when Mark caught up with him and fell on his pace. Mark glanced at him and Haechan glanced back curiously when suddenly Mark darted to the left, jumping on boulders till he reached the highest one. He looked down at Donghyuck expectantly and the omega realized Mark wanted him up too. So he stepped up on the boulders, happy that his slender frame advantaged him when it came to jumping, and reached Mark’s side. Mark nudge his head happily and Haechan nudged back, though he didn’t know why the older made them climb here.

And, standing next to him, he suddenly realized that even though Mark was taller, their height fit somewhat perfectly, Haechan’s head at the perfect height for Mark to lean his snout on or for Haechan to bit his sides, almost like they were meant to nest together like the hooks and edges of- puzzle pieces.

Haechan’s eyes widened and softened at the same time, his heartbeat quickening.

Mark Lee was indeed utter perfection.

Mark lowering his head in wonder to get his attention had him breaking from his trail of thoughts and he bumped their snouts together to assure him that all was good. The alpha seemed to start at first, but then his eyes were drown to a patch of brown fur by the omega’s chest, a spot were his collarbone would be. Mark frowned and cocked his head in confusion. And Haechan had to refrain a laugh because for once he looked everything but the alpha he was- yeah, he looked like a harmless and confused little puppy. Mark Lee could be so dumb.

The moment these thoughts crossed his mind, Mark’s eyes widened and he looked up at Donghyuck like he found the answer to the question ‘what’s the meaning of life?’.

And then, he ducked and nuzzled the spot, warm snout coming to a rest on it.

Almost as if he was kissing it.

And if Haechan had been human, he would have fainted. Or shove him. Probably a messy mix of both.

But right now, all he could feel was pure endearment. He was so touched by the gesture. So, eyes softening as he looked down at the alpha, he allowed himself to rest his head over Mark’s one. But almost immediately the older leaned back, almost as if he was burnt by the touch, and Haechan glanced at him curiously. However, Mark’s eyes were warm as they met, and he beckoned him closer. Haechan warily obeyed, wondering what the fuck the older was up to, and stood next to him on the boulder’s edge-

 

Mark howled.

 

The sound startled Donghyuck, whose paws almost slipped on the wet boulder and he glared at Mark who looked at him with a proud and amused glint in his eyes, obviously smug. Haechan had no doubt that if they were in their human forms he would be smirking.

Growling under his breath, he straighten up and looked straight in front of him. Mark wanted to play that game? Time to show off.

And so he howled.

Mark, who was obviously not expecting the howl, startled and slipped too. Except, his clumsy ass made him fall chest first on the boulder. This caused Haechan to let out a wolf noise, translatable by him laughing his ass off. Talk about charismatic alphas.

Mark whined like a kicked puppy. Haechan didn’t stop making the weird nose that was a wolf laugh. Mark growled. Haechan froze. Haechan whined. Haechan kicked him.

 

If Haechan’s wolfish screams for mercy were heard by other wolves running in the forest (read: Chenle and Jeno rolling in the mud), none paid attention.

 

– 

 

‘You’ll do great next week.’

Haechan turned his head from his spot on the grass to look at Mark, the both of them having shift back to their human selves once the rain had died down to watch the clouds float in the gray sky. A flower tickled his nose and he sneezed, making Mark turn to him with a giggle. ‘You mean the tournament?’ he asked, confused and Mark nodded.

‘Yeah. I’m sure you’ll win.’ Mark assured him and Haechan smirked, amused.

‘Yeah, and I’m also sure you’ll root for me, not for your cousin.’ he teased, clearly not believing Mark words.

‘Alright you got me here.’ Mark laughed, pointing at a cloud and muttering ‘dog’, and Haechan retorted with a ‘wolf’. ‘But seriously,’ he went on, focusing back on Hyuck. ‘I believe in you.’

Haechan took his hand firmly and offered him his brightest smile, cheeks tinted pink.

‘Thanks hyung.’

 

– – – – – 

 

The voices were blurry in his head. All he could focus on was the brush of the rough wood against the tip of his fingers, the tickle of the feather against his cheek and the loud thumping of his heartbeat in his ears — a two time beat, quick and exhilarating — and then it was gone. Gone and replaced by loud cheers, and suddenly he could hear it all over again-

‘- and that’s a win for Lee Donghyuck, everybody!!!’

His gaze was instantly pulled back over the target and he smiled. The arrow was struck on the bullseye.

He did it. He won the school’s athletic championship’s archery games.

‘Fuck yes!’

Dropping his bow on the grass, he turned around to spot his friends and his gaze instantly fell on Nana. The boy was trudging down the stairs and throwing his lungs out through his megaphone. Donghyuck couldn’t decipher what he was saying, but he knew it was something along the lines of ‘that’s my man over here! Look at that hoe!’. Behind him was Jeno and Renjun, cheering their asses off too and behind was Lucas whooping and clapping and then Jungwoo also whooping and waving his bags of chips in the air. Chenle and Jisung were not far away, too busy throwing popcorn in the air and howling — though Jisung did see him and waved happily.

Of course, he didn’t search for Mark.

Not because he didn’t want to (boy, did he want to), but because he knew the boy would be going over to Lee Chan first for he was his cousin – which was totally normal and he understood that – but he really couldn’t wait for the older to congratulate him after. So when he saw Nana reach the ground, he threw his quiver on the field and reached out with happy teary eyes, feet moving on their own before he could process that he was actually running. His best friend saw that too and threw his megaphone on the ground, spreading his arms open-

 

Arms wrapped around his waist and his feet left the ground.

 

‘Hyuckie! You did it!’ the call was muffled, lips moving against his neck, and he yelped, clutching the person’s shoulder. But one quick sniff and he knew.

‘Mark!’ he let out a surprised laugh, clutching his shoulders harder with one arm and pumping the air with the other as he was spun around and wrapped his legs around his waist. Mark laughed too and squeezed his sides, one arm automatically swooping under his butt to hold him up, and when he looked up the younger was already grinning down brightly at him. ‘Put me down you wild wolf!’

‘Says you!’ Mark exclaimed with a chuckle but obeyed and slowed down, Hyuck finally lowering his legs and catching his breath. But before he could fully regain it, he was pressed flush against a torso. A hand came to a rest behind his head and he gasped in surprise, feeling Mark bury his head in his neck. ‘You did it fucktard.’ he mumbled, and Haechan felt something weird twirl in his stomach. Mark seemed proud, no he was proud. And that settled something in him, something deep within that made him feel like he was worthy, like he was… loved.

‘Of course I did, I’m Lee Donghyuck, you dickhead.’ he whispered confidently, although his face was a burning mess and he was glad Mark couldn’t see that. So he held on tighter for a while, relishing in the touch and breathing in Mark’s scent. But after a while – a too short instant if you were to ask Haechan – the alpha leaned back, still keeping his hands on him. And all too suddenly, Donghyuck couldn’t breath properly. Mark was staring right back at him with his red eyes but for once seemingly unaware of the shift in them, looking so damn lost in thoughts, his gaze so dark and mesmerizing that Donghyuck felt like he could drown in it. And when Mark looked at him like that, what else could Donghyuck in his ‘Confident Gay But Panicked For Mark’ state do but to be smitten and weak and just smile softly at the older, with eyes brimming in pride & happiness and cheeks flaming in genuine love?

So he did exactly that, eyes fluttering close when the hand at the base of his nape moved forward to cup the junction of his jaw and neck, thumb softly stroking the edge of his jaw. ‘Yes. You’re indeed Lee Donghyuck.’

And if by now Mark still didn’t feel the scorch of his tan skin then he must dense as fuck. But Donghyuck couldn’t bring himself to care. Maybe it was the thrill of winning, maybe it was the way Mark acted that made him feel so confident, maybe he was simply too tired of playing blind just because he was scared when signals have been here all along, he just simply couldn’t care. Not tonight at last.

So, sighing in contentment due to the touch of the alpha, he leaned into his palm, baring his neck. And shifted his eyes to their wolfish orange gold.

Offering Mark submission and total trust.

 

Accepting him as his leader and family.

 

The sharp intake of air he heard only comforted him in his decision, and he was definitely proved right when Mark’s nose nuzzled the skin of his throat. ‘Fucking finally…’

Haechan chuckled and brought a hand to Mark’s hair, petting it. ‘What? Wanted me in that bad Markie poo? Don’t worry, I solemnly promise to make your life a living hell.’

Mark only groaned, releasing a puff of air against his neck that made him shiver, but he could feel the smile on his skin. ‘Oh but you already do just that, so I’m not afraid.’

‘Then I’ll do worse.’

‘I’ll take the challenge.’ Mark simply said, chuckling. But then he breathed in shakily and asked, ‘Why?’

Haechan could give him thousands reasons, but at the same time he couldn’t form one. It was weird, he knew why he wanted it but he also felt like no answer could properly answer for it.

Mark rubbed his thumb against his jaw.

Haechan knew what to answer.

‘Because you’re all anyone could wish for Mark. I couldn’t dream of a better pack leader.’ he answered truthfully, playful mode gone for once. And Mark’s breath quivered and the hand by his hip gave a squeeze, and Haechan knew his answer broke Mark’s last walls.

‘Thank you.’

The whisper was so silent that he almost didn’t catch it among the cheers and loud chatter, but he did. And so, he wrapped his arms around Mark’s shaking form, both to show him he meant them and to protect him from the outside world, to keep this weak side away from the outsiders. He knew that for an alpha these words must mean the world, that their chest must swell with pride, that it shows them they are great leaders. So he was never so glad he said them outloud.

Because making Mark feel like that was the best feeling in the world.

‘Because it’s you.’

 

– – – – – 

 

‘You really can’t do with doors, huh?’ Haechan asked when Mark opened his bedroom’s window, leaning against the wall and looking down at his wrist where he was toying with his brand new red braided bracelet.

His bracelet. Finally.

Oddly enough, he never realized that each pack members had a braided bracelet identical to one of the six (now seven) braided ones Mark wore; Chenle had the green one, Jisung the orange, Jaemin the pink, Jeno the blue, Renjun the purple and Mark the black. And now Haechan had the red one. And to see an identical red braided bracelet on Mark’s wrist brought him an unknown and unexpected joy.

To have the world know he was a Dream member had him proud.

The ceremony had ended 20 minutes ago – needless to say that Jaemin was thrilled to have him enter the pack and that Jeno shed a few tears (though he would never admit to that). It took place just after the small victory diner he had with his parents, Doyoung, Yuta and Sicheng who specially came for the occasion, and, of course, Na Jaemin. After it, they parted ways and the seven teenagers met up on Mark’s grounds, started a small fire and celebrated together. And then Mark proceeded with the ritual and finally made him one of his own, one of their own, a ‘Dreamie’.

And, crush aside, it was really a beautiful moment where he finally felt like he belonged somewhere, with all of them, an invisible bond connecting them all. Like he finally found his home. And it made him feel warm.

Of course there was Mark – he found a place by his side as both a pack member and friend, and that was priceless.

But the magic didn’t stop there because Mark insisted on walking him home and stayed a bit to talk to him as a leader. It was odd but warmly welcomed, to finally get ropes and ties on how a family worked.

A gust of wind made him look up, Mark sitting on the sill and raising a brow. ‘Who said I’m leaving?’

Donghyuck let out an airy chuckle and let go of his bracelet, internally happy. He thought the boy was leaving, and it was weird but… he felt like some stuffs had to be said before he actually did leave. ‘I thought you were since you opened the window.’ he explained, referring to the time he carried him back home, and Mark let out an awkward ‘oh’ because, yeah, what Hyuck said actually made a lot of sense.

‘I was just… hot, I guess?’ Mark explained, rubbing his nape sheepishly and clearing his throat, and oh boy did the omega fought the urge to make an unwanted comment on that statement. Thankfully, before he could, Mark went on, ‘But I can leave if you want-’

 

‘No!’

 

An awkward silence.

A blush.

A chuckle.

A silent plea for an instant burial.

‘I mean no, of course, no, you’re welcomed here. More than welcomed even. I mean, not that I- yeah, okay, I’m just gonna shut up now.’ Donghyuck declared, slowly and dramatically sliding down the wall for good measure. God, bury him alive already.

Mark burst out laughing and looked out the window at the crescent moon, eyes unreadable. Donghyuck calmed down and sat by his legs, looking up as he wondered what the boy was thinking. Mark had always been an open book on many subjects, everything showing on his face, yet his eyes never betrayed him. They were unreadable, even if you knew him like the back of your hand. He wasn’t even sure that if the alpha ever let him see through the barrier he would get to what it hold.

‘You’re so extra.’ Mark declared, eyes still cast on the sky.

Haechan blinked.

‘Thank you, I guess?’ he answered, the ‘compliment’ not being what he had came to expect from the older. Yet again, he should know better because Mark always had a weird behavior. He smiled. Yeah, Mark was weird but adorable.

 

All of sudden, a hand brushed his cheek.

 

Haechan started and raised his head halfway to meet the hand, its fingers settling under his chin. Mark’s thumb brushed against the side of it, and Haechan briefly closed his eyes, moonlight filtering in the room catching on his face momentarily. And when he opened them back, he could tell how he looked. Beautiful. Why? Because he could read it in Mark’s eyes.

Mark’s equally beautiful eyes. Mark equally beautiful self.

 

‘Mark?’ he muttered, lips barely parting. His eyes never left Mark’s ones, watching them hold so many emotions that he couldn’t decipher. And it was so overwhelming and so intimate… Donghyuck felt like he was about to burst, and if he didn’t retract right now, he might as well-

‘You’re really silly.’ Mark said again, words he had spoken thousands times to Donghyuck, yet never this fondly.

‘Always~’ he chirped, breathing in relief and grin widening at the familiar words, and he propped himself on his knees, forearms leaning on Mark’s thighs as the boy’s hand moved to his jaw, close to his ear, and their eyes met again.

And Haechan’s breath caught in his throat again.

God, was Mark’s aim to kill him? Because if so, he was on the right path! He was so ethereal, the moon sculpting his face in shadows and specs of light- he was so perfect…

‘Donghyuck…’ Mark called out, making him focus his attention back on his eyes and he was surprised to find them closer. Their breaths mingled and Mark’s hand cupped his jaw.

‘Wh-what-’ he began, stuttering with wide eyes and red cheeks. What in the world was happening?! Why was Mark so close? And why was he-

 

Lips pressed against his own.

 

Haechan’s brain short-circuited. His eyes went wide. His breath went missing. And suddenly he was gasping.

Mark smiled against his lips, the press still gentle but firm, his hand rubbing the side of his jaw tenderly, and with a last pressure he leaned back. Their eyes found each other’s again right away, Haechan still frozen, his lips trembling as he pressed them together, definitely blushing harder when he tasted Mark on them.

‘You-you kissed me.’ he deadpanned, eyes still wide and brain still frozen.

Mark snorted, the sound akin to a mix of relief and amusement. And suddenly, he was biting back a grin, second hand coming up to nuzzle the other side of the omega’s face fondly. ‘I thought you’d never realize.’

Haechan scoffed at the teasing but it was light and harmless and the grin on his blushing face was soon replaced with a look of pure joy and relief as his brain finally got back to work. And it all finally fucking sunk in.

Finally. Oh god. He was sure now. He was sure his feelings were mutual.

What in the fuck? How in the world could such a beautiful and perfect alpha reciprocate his feelings…

He sniffed and blinked away the tears of relief menacing to break through, his frantic heart finally calming. ‘For my defense, you weren’t making it easy.’ he stated, not knowing whether he was referring to Mark’s surprising move or the fact that he kept giving him confusing signals for months now.

Mark chuckled and looked down for a moment, with that little smile threatening to break through too. ‘I know. But you weren’t making it easy either, you know?’

And with that, Haechan knew that they weren’t talking about his bold move. His eyes softened, remembering Jaemin’s and Mr. Park’s words. So Mark had been insecure. Yeah, he guess he knew, then. So he leaned into his touch, smiling dreamily at the boy. ‘I know, sorr-’

 

‘I like you.’

 

Oh god.

Haechan sputtered and blushed like crazy, trying to find words and, above all, his breath. Because, fuck, Mark said it.

‘Su-suddenly?’ he chirped while dying inside, now face fully red at the sudden confession.

‘Yes. I mean, no! I didn’t like you suddenly, but yes I said it suddenly! In fact, I’ve liked you- no I’ve loved you for a while now…’ Mark coughed embarrassed, voice quieting down as a blush began to appear on his cute cheekbones. ‘But yeah, I thought I should say it first… not because I’m the alpha or anything! But since I kissed you, I thought-’ he suddenly cut himself and groaned, crunching his nose as the blush on his cheeks darkened. ‘Okay, I swear I never wanted this confession to go awkward- fuck.’ he ended abruptly, hands retracting from Haechan’s face to bury his own in them instead.

Haechan blinked, incredulous, muttering a ‘what’. This was not… how he expected the confession to go. In his dream Mark was a confident bastard, smugly confessing to him and offering him a dream-like kiss (well, this part was fulfilled at least). But who was he fooling. Mark had always been a mess when it came to affection. A cute little mess.

And to be honest… this version of Mark was better than his fantasy one. Mark was indeed the endearing cute little dickhead whom he fell in love with, there were no doubts left.

Chuckling, he pried Mark’s fingers away from his face, the boy raising his face a bit to look at him with embarrassment and hesitance, almost as if he feared that Haechan would laugh at his face, and well who could blame him? They usually teased each other and bantered for silly shit. But now was not the time, and Haechan knew that.

‘We really are a fucktard and a dickhead. Guess we were really meant to be…’ he mumbled, thumbs lovingly brushing against Mark’s knuckles as he softly smiled at him.

Mark smiled back at him at his words, hope blossoming on his face, making him look like the kid he fell in love with three years ago and the child he befriended in his past again.

‘Well, when you put it like that, I guess you’re right. For once.’ he conceded in a chuckle, thumbs brushing back Haechan’s ones.

Haechan snorted for good measure but deep down he was screaming. Hysterically. Mark’s words kept resonating in his ears, reminding him that it was true. That all his dreams were coming true. It had to be a dream. He would wake up soon, right? Maybe if he closed his eyes right then, then he would wake up and Mark would vanish-

The press of warm lips against his made all these silly thoughts disappear. In fact, it made all his thoughts disappear. All but one.

Mark.

The constant echo of the name resonated in his very being, on and on and on as he attached his hands to Mark’s neck, thumbs pressing tightly against his jaw, lightly parting his lips to deepen the kiss. Mark. Mark. Mark. All he could think, see, feel, smell and taste was Mark.

Said boy hummed appreciatively against his lips and grabbed his hips to bring him closer, legs framing the omega in the process. He moved his lips against Donghyuck’s ones just a bit longer before he leaned back, just slightly, to breath. Donghyuck almost whined, not missing the smirk on the older’s lips when he unconsciously leaned in to catch his lips again. Blushing, he rubbed his lips together and slowly leaned back, avoiding Mark’s eyes. Oh god. They kissed again.

Okay, this was definitely a dream.

‘It’s not.’

Mark’s voice cut his thoughts and he punched his chest, internally killing himself for speaking his thoughts outloud. ‘Shut up Mark Lee…’ he grumbled, conflicted between wanting to die and burying himself in Mark’s arms forever.

Fingers brushed his cheek.

‘Say it.’

Haechan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and opened his mouth to ask for an explanation but Mark beat him to it.

‘You haven’t say it. Say you love me.’

‘I-’ Haechan began, panicking and eyes wide, face beet red. Oh god. Okay. He could do it. Breathing in, he looked up, eyes wide and lips trembling. But one look at Mark’s face and he calmed down instantly. The boy was looking at him in pure adoration.

He loves me.

 

‘I love you.’

The words were way easier to say than he’d expected. And how worth it it was when Mark’s eyes watered and he grinned so hard that he outshone the moon. (Okay, maybe not that far but Hyuck was in love so let him believed what he wanted.)

Mark leaned forward again, catching him off guard, and pressed their forehead together. ‘Say it again.’ he growled, softly stroking his jaw.

Haechan blushed madly but complied, obeying. ‘I love you too… dickhead.’

Mark groaned and leaned back.

‘Of course you would say that…’ he snickered bitterly but chuckled right after, both in amusement and disbelief when Haechan smirked and winked. ‘But I love you too fucktard.’

Haechan bit his lips, stilling and blushing, and Mark looked at him in concern. ‘You’re okay there?’

‘Yeah.’ the omega chirped in an overly constipated voice. ‘I’m just trying not to gay panic. Ignore me for a while please.’

Mark laughed frankly at that, throwing himself back against the wall. The action caused Haechan to calm down and lean his arms on the windowsill. He laid his head sideways on them so that he could stare at the laughing boy.

Well, what an evening.

Who knew it would turn like that? Who knew it would be that simple? Probably everyone but him and Mark if he were to be honest. He shook the thought away to focus back on Mark who was now staring down at him fondly like the hot dork that he was. And now, he was Haechan’s hot dork.

The thought sent him in a giggling fit, pink tinting his cheeks. He couldn’t believe he was saying that.

Mark raised a brow but smiled fondly, like he always did when it came to Donghyuck. ‘You really are extra babe.’

Haechan stopped giggling and raised a brow, cheeks darkening. ‘Babe? Is that what you’re gonna call me now?’

Mark hummed and stretched. ‘Among other things, yeah.’ he declared, then settled his eyes on the omega, ‘If you accept me as your mate.’

 

Those words were supposed to create an outburst. A panic attack. A ‘freeze’ moment. A gay panic even.

It’s what Haechan always convinced himself would take place if Mark ever asked.

But, oddly, the only thing he could bring himself to do was gaze up at him through half lidded eyelashes, content eyes shifting to an orange gold, the mutter leaving him before he could think of it.

‘I remember saying yes.’

The red eyes staring back at him were enough for him to know he would never ever regret his decision. To know he was loved. To know it was right.

To just know that… fucking finally.

 

Mark led them both to the bed and they sat on its end, his hands never leaving Hyuck’s ones. Donghyuck was in a daze, knowing but not fully comprehending what was happening, yet fully trusting Mark when the boy brushed a thumb against his collarbone, just where his birthmark was.

And where he guessed his mating bite would soon be.

So, wordlessly and not believing what was about to happen, he bared his neck more, relaxing in the touch when Mark lowered the collar of his shirt. The alpha’s breath was warm and comforting against his skin, it truly felt like home and right now he wanted nothing more than for him to press his lips against his neck and bite. And Mark must have scent it because he smiled against his skin and brought Haechan closer to him, breathing in his sweet scent of blueberries, lemon and warm sand. He tentatively pressed a kiss on the younger’s birthmark, their legs framing each others as Haechan gripped his hoodie tighter and bit back a sob. God, he never felt so wanted, so loved, and it felt so, so great. Mark seemed to sense the sudden change in his emotions and hugged him tighter, shushing him. ‘You’re okay?’

Haechan nodded.

‘Never been more.’

 

With that, Mark bit.

 

– 

 

Later on, when their limbs were tangled with each other’s under the early morning sunlight, when Haechan had his mouth pressed on his mate’s wrist, kissing the skin softly, just where his mating bite was, he finally felt complete.

The puzzle pieces were finally nested.

Mark hummed appreciatively, one hand carding his omega’s hair as the other was held hostage by said person’s hand as he kissed the bite over and over again – well, it was more like a constant lip press by now, but it warmed his heart nevertheless.

Haechan finally let go but went to hug him instead, head nuzzling his clothed chest and Mark automatically wrapped his arm around him, bringing him closer. And Haechan almost died here and there because, wow, what they said was real, wolves were really hella possessive during their first days as mates!

Not that he was complaining.

Closing his eyes, he sighed deeply and lightly hit Mark’s chest. ‘Stop staring at me, it’s creepy.’

‘Get used to it.’ Mark simply answered, making him snort.

‘Alright, stare at my beauty all you want Markie poo. I know I’m a gift for mankind.’

Now, it was Mark’s turn to snort and Haechan opened his eyes at that, now really hitting his chest, making him yelp.

‘Yah! You’re supposed to agree! Heol, so much for becoming mates…’ he grumbled, slumping back against his chest and pouting.

Mark softened at that and played with Haechan’s shirt’s collar. ‘If I agree with you I would feed your ego for two weeks, and you’d never let me live it down. And you’d say it’s cheesy even though I know you secretly enjoy it.’

Haechan could only laugh, not even having the strength to fake offense. ‘You’re right.’

Mark’s fingers brushed against his mating bite, coming to a stop over it. Haechan leaned into the touch, content. To say that not even a few hours ago it was a birthmark that mocked him, and now it was replaced by an actual mating bite. Life was poetic, wasn’t it?

Mark’s fingers pressed against it, softly.

‘But if you really want to hear it, then yes, you’re the most beautiful person on Earth Lee Donghyuck.’

 

A silence.

 

‘Oh god, shut up. I swear I’m about to throw up.’

‘Explain to me why you’re blushing then?’

‘Because I can, now shut up Mark Minhyung Lee!’

Oh, god. Someone bury him already please.

Mark laughed out loud at that, that cute little laugh that made Donghyuck fall head over heels for him, and lowered himself at Donghyuck’s level, their faces facing each other’s. He brought his hand to Haechan’s jaw and said boy looked down at his hand, then his wrist, and chuckled.

‘Who would have thought that you kept on wearing those bracelets because you wanted to make sure this spot had be bare and intact for your mate to bite.’ he whispered, eyes sparkling under the morning sun. Mark took a glance at his wrist too; where his bracelets were not even five hours ago was now a bite, the bracelets happily moved to his other wrist. He smiled and looked back at his lover.

‘Don’t laugh at me but my mom told me shit about romantic gestures when I was a kid. That’s why my stupid seven year old self decided it was a good idea to get my mom to buy me bracelets and reserve my wrist for you- well, my mate.’ he confessed, and of course Haechan burst out laughing. ‘Oh, c’mon, stop laughing.’ he whined, moving to roll over but Haechan wrapped a leg over his hip.

‘Nope. I always knew you were a romanticist.’ he teased and Mark pushed his leg away.

‘I’m not.’ he rolled his eyes, slightly pouting, grumbling something about there being nothing wrong with being a romanticist.

Haechan pocked his cheek and cooed at his mate’s cute face. ‘Then why did you keep them if you’re not?’

Mark all but rolled over at that, hugging the covers to himself. Haechan immediately whimpered at the loss of warmth and whined. Rolling his eyes, he tugged Mark back into their initial position. But Mark kept looking at the mattress, lips slightly pouting still.

He internally groaned. Mark could be so stupid at times.

So he brought a finger along his cheek, fingernail gently scrapping it and making Mark look up.

‘Who said I’m complaining?’

It took a few seconds for the alpha to react, Haechan wondering whether he had lost it or not, but eventually he did and he literally beamed at his answer, tugging him closer in the process and burying his face in his hair, breathing in his scent. Haechan blushed at the sweet gesture, scent sickeningly sweetening and he cringed. God, Mark definitely smelled it.

‘Yeah, I guess you do love it.’

‘N-no.’

Oh shit.

‘Was that a stutter Mr. Lee?’

‘Stop it Mark.’ he whined, punching his chest.

Mark all but laughed into his hair. ‘Sorry babe.’

Haechan was seriously contemplating which of the rope or the knife was better to save himself further relationship embarrassment.

Mark suddenly leaned back, nose running down his face to settle against his own, and Haechan’s breath left him when he found himself staring at beautiful dark red pools.

God, was he in love.

‘Mine.’ the older whispered, slowly closing his eyes and reconnecting their lips.

Haechan sighed against them, responding to the kiss with a softness he didn’t know he owned. ‘Yours…’ he muttered back against his lips, melting in his alpha’s embrace when he wrapped an arm around his waist and a hand on his jaw.

‘You’re really spontaneous Mark Lee.’ he declared with a laugh as he detached their lips.

‘Can’t deny it’ Mark shrugged and pecked his lips one last time before he leaned back, bringing their foreheads together. ‘You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.’

The confession made him choke and snap his eyes open. Mark heard it and opened his eyes too, raising a brow.

‘I should be the one saying that!’ Haechan exclaimed, startling his alpha. ‘I’ve been pinning over you for three years and-’ he cut himself abruptly when he realized what he said.

‘That long?’ Mark asked, looking incredulous and proud.

‘Oh stop looking so smug- and yeah three years. But I don’t care now because I’ve got your cute little ass all for myself.’ he declared with a shit-eating grin and Mark groaned, blushing.

‘Can you not?’ Mark whined and Haechan tilted his head.

‘What? Worshiping your behind? Staring at it? Or just being cute?’

Mark laughed and shook his head desperately, Haechan finally joining him after a while. Once he was calm the older looked up at the ceiling, sighing with a fond smile.

‘You’re so extra, I swear to god Hyuck.’

Haechan hummed and toyed with Mark’s hoodie’s strings. ‘Well, I did promise to make your life a living hell, didn’t I?’

Mark hummed back and grazed a finger along the bite he made by his omega’s collarbone, leaving a trail of goosebumps on the way. ‘So far so good.’ he stated absentmindedly, more focused on his bite.

The top row of his teeth perfectly covered the small crescent birthmark, completely making it disappear, as if were never here to begin with, the lower row of his teeth just under making it a perfect circle.

‘Looks like a full moon.’ Haechan stated, his own hand joining Mark’s over it, the older intertwining their fingers. God, he still couldn’t believe this perfect human being was his mate.

It all seemed so surreal.

‘Nah.’ Mark declared as their eyes met when he brought the younger’s knuckles to his lips.

 

‘It’s a full sun.’

 

But maybe… maybe they were always each other’s.

 

~~~~~~> The end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's done.  
> I hope you enjoyed this short story aha. I really had fun writing it, and I can't thank you enough for the love it receives everyday. You guys are seriously amazing, thank you so much for sticking around.  
> I don't know when I'll write the next mini-story of this series, but do let me know if you have ideas aha. (You can also follow me @ceeheeOC on twt~)
> 
> Thank you again and see you soon hopefully!
> 
> Bye bye~

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it~ Part two coming soon~


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